Dark
by Hope Shalott
Summary: If vampires and shapeshifters exist in this world, is it really so hard to believe that they may not be the only creatures beyond human reality? What happens when these others decide that it's time to come out from the shadows?
1. Dark: Prologue

**Disclaimer**: Characters you recognise belong to Stephenie Meyer. Characters you don't, belong to me.

**A/N:** I already have the first chapter written. I'm just going over it so it will probably be posted soon.

Prologue

The girl moaned and squirmed in his arms but he pressed his lips down harder. It wasn't a cold night but he closed his eyes as a shiver ran through him. He ran his hands through her smooth, blonde hair and she let out a squeak of protest. Seconds later, he felt her slump against him and he let her fall to the ground.

He tipped his head back, savouring the last few drops of blood as it trickled down his throat. He eyed the body with a sigh of inconvenience. He'd have to get rid of it but it was too risky to take care of it here. Not enough cover and if anyone did happen to see him, the Volturi would be on him within days.

He picked the girl up and hoisted her over his shoulder with little effort. He was closing the trunk of his car when he smelt it first.

The was no way he could describe it only to say that he had never smelt anything sweeter. The scent lingered in the air, delicate notes misted around him. No other smell, natural or artificial, could match this intoxicating perfection.

He closed his eyes and inhaled, each breath giving spark to senses he had never even imagined he possessed. Even as a human, he had never felt so alive. So connected with the world around him. Eyes still closed, he unconsciously moved towards the smell.

He rounded a corner, his sated thirst a dull memory; and one that held no comparison to this new feeling that blossomed inside him. Moving without knowing where he was going, he eventually found himself in a secluded ally.

A dark figure perched upon a stack of crates. She was young, perhaps no more than sixteen. Dark hair fell past her shoulders in loose curls and the air around her seemed to shift and change at random.

Her lips curved in a smile. Not exactly warm and welcoming, more playful with a slight edge of disgust and danger but he was too enraptured to take note.

"I thought you were never going to show up," she said, her voice lilting and teasing.

His breath caught in his throat as she stood. She rose gracefully, stretching long limbs in a slow routine. She caught him watching and gave him a disapproving smile before moving slowly towards him.

She stood before him and looked up at him. She was small and dainty, looking all the more like a child, but her dark eyes glittered knowingly. The scent of her this close was overwhelming. She grasped his hand and her warm touch burned through his icy skin. Her eyes never left his face.

"Who are you?" He asked, his voice sounding ragged and broken compared to her soft melody.

She grinned. With her teeth bared and her eyes shining, she looked wild...dangerous but he couldn't hold the thought. Couldn't consider it...couldn't follow up on it. All he could do was stand there.

"That's not what you really want to know, is it?"

She swayed on her the balls of her feet. Soft and slow. The wind blew tendrils of hair around her face and he watched as they breezed across her skin in a soft caress.

"What are you?" He whispered. Somewhere deep inside, he knew it wasn't an answer he wanted to hear. A tiny voice niggled at the back of his head. Buried instinct, smothered by her sweet perfume, told him to fight her hold on him.

Her small hand, still in his, felt even warmer. Her eyes were lighter now. Green flecks seeping through the darkness and a black shadow fell across her skin. She stretched once more and let out a gurgling moan that was somewhere between pain and pleasure. She grinned, showing a mouthful of sharp teeth that made the dead girl's blood freeze in his veins. On her human face, the grin looked horrific and he instinctively dropped her hand and stepped back.

He watched in terrified fascination as short black hair sprouted from under her skin. It covered her body quickly, like creeping moss, and her back hunched with a loud crack. The rest of her bones popped and crunched as they morphed into place. Her heart beat wildly, wet and quick, and he could hear muscles and tendons tearing and ripping under her changing flesh.

It was over in a matter of minutes. The girl was gone and before him stood a large beast. It was slightly taller than a fully grown wolf but nowhere near as big. He could just make out a diamond shaped patch of white fur on its silky, black chest. Yellow eyes fixed on his throat. The beast bared its teeth with a low, rumbling snarl and his senses flooded back to him.

This was an enemy before him. A dangerous predator. One he didn't know. It wasn't a werewolf, he had fought one of those long ago. He readied himself to fight but had barely sunk into a defensive crouch when the beast lunged at him. He didn't have time to react before he felt strong jaws close around his neck. He felt sharp claws digging into his skin. He managed to choke out a strangled plea but the animal continued to jerk its head furiously from side to side.

_This isn't right. _He thought. He was the predator. The hunter. He was the one to be feared. How many had he killed, knowing that they could never outrun him, or fight him. Young women to old men, all taken with the arrogance and confidence of a creature who knows he sits at the top of the food chain.

His senses dulled and the world around him faded. His last glance was of a dark sky with one single shining star set right in the middle of it.

He didn't live long enough to hear a sharp, distant howl cut through the air.


	2. Calm

Disclaimer: Characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

The Calm

The ground was wet and damp with dew. I kicked a rock in protest at the birds twittering in the trees overhead. It was too damn early for all this noise.

Time was when I never used to get up before noon, except for school or special occasions...like family get togethers or dentist appointments. Now I'm lucky if I can sleep through the night.

I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. The air was cold and sharp. I opened my mouth and let it settle on my tongue. Early mornings weren't so bad. The whole world tasted and smelt and felt new.

The bushes rustled as a rabbit ran away from me but it didn't have to worry. Even in wolf form, rabbits weren't my favoured food source. The little critters were far too quick and I was far too lazy to put the effort required into catching one. Jacob had spent months bragging that he could catch them easily until he got kicked in the eye by one while on a hunt. Now he stays away. He's 'gone off them' apparently.

I heard soft footsteps behind me and my nostrils flared. Jasmine perfume on top of a scent that was already sickly sweet. _Rose. _She stepped beside me and we stood together for a while, neither of us saying a word. I had started coming here a few months ago, when I couldn't sleep, and she had started joining me a few weeks later.

We never talked, just stood and breathed and listened to the world around us. It was almost meditative. Two girls, two monsters, finding peace in the silence and understanding that they both needed.

A few hours later, we parted ways. Not a word had been spoken by either of us.

* * *

I went home to change before meeting the pack at the Cullen's house. It was still kinda awkward, years of hostility wasn't easy to overcome, but this and the surrounding area was our territory. The compulsion to protect it was strange, since I'm sure that none of us, besides Jacob and maybe Seth, cared much about it. It was just another behaviour that we attributed to the wolves inside us, like wanting to bite small animals and eating anything in sight.

Each morning, at Jacob's insistence, we ran laps around the perimeter, careful not to cross into Sam's turf. I took the biggest stretch since I was the fastest. The forest was damp, which was nothing new in Forks. It rained, like, three times a day, everyday.

The mud squelched between my toes as I ran. The whole world was muted and colourless but my other senses more than made up for it. I sank my claws into the dirt, slowing down enough so that I could swerve the tree in front of me. The sounds of the wild was deafening but in this form, I was able to filter them out a lot easier.

I relaxed, letting my instincts work for me and automatically tuned into the others.

_...really pretty but you can't. What if you imprint? It wouldn't be fair. Look what happened to Leah._

_Maybe I was supposed to move the rock over to the wall and climb up on it. Yes, that's it! There's probably a rope up there or something. Damn, Lara Croft is so freakin' hot._

_Don't go there Seth_. _Imprinting is the best thing that could ever happen to you._

_I wonder what Nessie's doing right now. She's probably finished that book. She's really smart for her age._

_Dude, you do know that Lara Croft is a cartoon, or whatever._

_She's a character, in a game, Leah. It's no different to you mooning over Johnny Depp._

_I'm not going to do anything, Quil. I wouldn't do that to her. _

_It's totally different, Em-freak. Johnny Depp is a real person. _

_Urg. Whatever...bitch._

_Here we go again._

_God, this is just what we need._

_Don't you two ever stop?_

_Yeah, whatever. Just keep your sick cartoon fantasies to yourself...loser. _

I felt them all heave a mental sigh of relief that I had given up so easily. I tried to resist, I really did, but I just couldn't help myself.

_Hey, maybe your dad had a thing for cartoons as well._

I phased before Jacob could order me to shut up.

* * *

Renesmee, or whatever, was still reading on the front porch. I bit back a smirk. She obviously wasn't as smart as Jacob thought she was. She smiled at me but I stalked past her without so much as a backward glance.

I was barely through the door when I was ambushed by the alpha female vamp. She guided me to the plush, white sofa, being very careful not to touch me and started the inquisition. Would I like a drink? A shower perhaps? Was I hungry? Was I cold? Was I happy? How was my overall mental health? Did I have a boyfriend yet?

Okay, maybe I embellished a little but she was annoying enough that I had to stop myself from telling her to STFU. The house was pretty empty. The head honcho was at home, sorry, the _hospital_ where he seemed to spend all his time.

"Are none of the others here yet?"

"No," Esme replied, still trying to force feed me. "You're the first back" she sang, probably not even knowing why she was so excited about that.

She sat across from me, her face a mask of warmth and concern. "How is your mother?" she asked.

My mother? She always asked me this but why was she looking so concerned? Did she know something about my mother that I didn't? Was she sick? Dying? Having an affair? _Pregnant? _

"She's fine." I mumbled, my mind racing.

"I bumped into her at the grocery store"

Oh god, she _was_ pregnant. My mother. My middle aged mother having a baby. How old was I now? Twenty three...so that would make a twenty three year age difference between me and the kid. This thing would age me quicker than sunbeds and smoking. My whole life would pass me by, measured by first steps and first words and first teeth. How could my own mother do this to me?

"She seems so happy with Charlie."

I sat still, dumbstruck with horror. Esme was silent, her concern was focused on me now.

"And?" I asked.

She stared at me for a moment, confused.

"Why did you want to know?" My voice sounded sharp and accusing, even to my own ears.

Her eyes flickered from my face to the door, probably checking the exits in case I went nuts or something. "I was just...well, I just wanted to know how she was and, of course, it's polite to ask, isn't it?"

The door opened and I could swear she let out a sigh. The guys filtered in, effectively killing the quiet, calm atmosphere. Esme made her escape, practically running into the kitchen to rustle up some food. Renesmee came to sit beside me at the exact same moment I decided to stand up, which earned me a glare from Jacob. I returned it wholeheartedly.

It wasn't that I hated the girl or anything. I just didn't like her. She was creepy. At only two years old, she looked about nine. And all she ever did was read. She seemed pretty determined to win me over. I couldn't sit without her sitting beside me. If I went to the kitchen right now, she would follow me, wanting to hear my opinions on Heathcliff and Harry Potter and the current economic situation in China. I'd considered sharing my opinions on her parentage and her name and her freaky future relationship but I managed to contain myself to just ignoring her.

Jasper came down from upstairs which pissed me off because I hadn't even known he was in the house. He glanced at me, maybe realising that my current mood was his fault. Him reading my feelings was even more annoying and he raised his eyebrows then let out a weary sigh.

The phone rang for the first time in forever. It was such a rare occurrence that everyone stared at it for a moment before Jasper moved to answer it. Esme ushered us into the kitchen to give him some privacy and we were more than happy to follow the food. We were busy stuffing our faces when Jasper joined us in the kitchen. He looked concerned. So concerned that Esme rushed to his side and put a hand on his arm.

"Who was it?" she asked, her voice rising in desperation and worry.

"It was Peter...a friend of mine from a long time ago", he said, addressing our confused glances. "He wanted to warn us."

Jacob rose from his seat, his eyes shooting to the girl next to him. "About what?"

"There's been a spate of vampire deaths across the country. Murders. Nobody knows who or what is responsible yet."

"Who or what?" Esme questioned, her melodic voice wavering.

"All they know is that it isn't another vampire."

The room was silent for a minute so I took it upon myself to ask the most obvious, and important, question. "If it isn't a vampire...then what else could it be?"

The look on Jasper's face told me that I really didn't want to know.

* * *


	3. Mist

**Disclaimer:** Characters you recognise belong to Stephenie Meyer. Characters you don't are mine.

**A/N:** Thanks for all your reviews! Don't know how long this one's going to be and I don't even want to guess (SF was only supposed to be ten chapters.) Anyway, glad you're enjoying it. If anything is confusing or wrong, feel free to let me know [but don't ask me what the dark haired girl is because I'm not telling. ;-)] There will be Leah romance in this story. That is all.

Mist

The worry and confusion was overwhelming. Whatever the matter was, and none of us knew for sure, Jasper had deemed it dangerous enough to call the others and have them assemble in the front room.

"A werewolf...a real werewolf?" Jacob stuttered.

"Cool," Emmett said, earning himself a glare from everyone in the room except me because I thought it was kinda cool myself.

"Emmett, please try and contain yourself." Edward turned to the rest of us but not before shooting a warning glance at me. Damn mindreaders. "A werewolf is by no means 'cool'. They are almost as dangerous to us as you lot."

"Almost?" Bella asked, her smooth voice taking on a brittle edge with worry.

Jasper stared at her intently and her features relaxed slightly. Confident that she wouldn't fall to pieces, he turned to the rest of us. "Werewolves have heightened strength and senses, much like you do," he said addressing Jacob, "but they're volatile and temperamental. They often have trouble controlling their instincts, making only enough of an illusion of humanity that they won't call attention to themselves. In a fight with our kind however, all bets are off. Their lack of control makes them easy to exploit."

Sounded pretty deadly but something about this wasn't making sense to me. "So if they're easy to kill, then how did it manage to waste so many vamps?"

"They're _easier_ to kill, especially when compared with another vampire or your kind, but they're by no means easy prey. They could quite easily kill a vampire if he wasn't careful."

"Sounds like one lucky werewolf to me," Rosalie said, not exactly frozen in terror. She didn't seem to care that a major threat had just been discovered. She was too busy examining her french manicure. "I mean, all those vampires and he manages to kill every one. Hmm"

She met my gaze with a wink. Truth be told, Blondie was one of the few leeches I could tolerate. She didn't seem to have permanent ADHD like Alice and she was definitely made of sterner stuff than Bella and Esme. I didn't care much about the guys because I didn't like guys in general. Across the room, Edward rolled his eyes at me.

"Is there any chance that this might not be a Hollywood version werewolf?" Seth asked and Embry snorted milk out of his nose.

"What the hell else would it be?"

"I dunno, something." Seth shrugged, eyes darting around the room for some kind of validation or backup.

"Yes, that's it. Those vamps were killed by _something_. Jeez, give this boy a medal." Embry punched his arm. "Nice work genius."

"Does Carlisle know what it may be?" Esme asked hopefully. Jasper shook his head.

"He didn't seem to, beyond the obvious suspects. He's trying to get someone to cover his shift for him."

Esme hugged herself and gave an almost imperceptible shiver. "I'll feel so much better when he's here." She turned to Alice. "Can't you see _anything_?"

Alice grimaced. She was always kinda touchy when her abilities, or lack of them, were bought into question. "I can't see anything because they're involved." she spat, nodding at Quil and I. Both of us met her gaze with a sneer.

Edward sighed and curled his arm around Bella. Everyone who wasn't a lovesick zombie rolled their eyes. So just me and Embry then.

"Let's just all calm down until Carlisle gets here." Edward said, which confused me a little. Everyone seemed calm enough, I mean, no one was boarding up the windows and muttering about the end of the world. And was that okay when Carlisle got here? Were we all supposed to descend into madness as soon as he walked through the door?

Edward scowled at me and I made a mental note to start reciting Newton's theory of relativity whenever he was in the room.

"I actually find that quite interesting," he smirked at me.

_Figures._

* * *

Her eyes twinkled as they approached the runway. She watched, like an excited puppy and Mai smiled at how inappropriate a comparison that was.

The young girl turned to her. "I've never been to France before. I can't wait to see the Eiffel Tower."

Mai smiled softly at the child. Her enthusiasm had tested the others patience many times, which was why it had become her duty to escort her. "It's not that spectacular. I've seen it before. Besides, we won't be stopping there long."

The girl nodded, her eyes already glazed over with new thought. "Beth said that the city is built on water. We'll have to take boats everywhere."

Mai grinned at her childish giggle. "She's mistaken. There is a city like that but it's not where we are going."

The child sneered, her dark eyes dulled by a thought that clearly displeased her. "Will _they_ be there?"

"Yes." The smile didn't leave Mai's face.

"I don't like them. They stink."

Mai let out a soft laugh. She entwined a lock of dark hair through her fingers and smoothed it off the child's face. "Not everyone can smell as sweet as you." She said playfully.

The girl grinned mischievously. "I don't see why we need them anyway. Beth and I can kill the vampires. And you're much cleverer than _him_," she added with another sneer.

"Stop!" Mai snapped. Her tone was harsh with only the slightest edge of fear underneath. "You shouldn't talk like that. You know how paranoid he gets."

The girl didn't shrink back from Mai's anger. Instead she glared defiantly, her eyes dark and threatening. She didn't speak or blink. She didn't even move, which just served to make Mai feel even more uncomfortable. It was so easy to forget what she was, what she could do. After a few long seconds. She turned back to the window, a mane of dark curls tumbling over her shoulders.

"Will we get to kill some vampires?" she asked, her voice soft and sweet as ever, as though she hadn't just been contemplating ripping Mai's throat out.

Mai smirked and leaned back into her seat.

"Plenty"

* * *

Carlisle managed to get the afternoon off. He blamed a family emergency. I was surprised that he was still getting away with that excuse. The guy had more family emergencies than the Mafia. He shouldn't have bothered really because his suggestions were almost as useful as Seth's, as in not useful in the slightest.

It could be a werewolf, it could be a vampire, it could be another shapeshifter or it could be something else. _What else could it be? _we all asked. He didn't know.

There was talk about calling The Volturi for advice, which was deemed severely premature, despite the fact that they probably already knew vamps were getting wasted. So everyone was just scratching their heads until Carlisle came up with best worst idea _ever_. Call Alistair. Yep, the crazy conspiracy guy who ran away from The Volturi back when they wanted to kill Bella and spawn. So now we had a new theory.

Aliens.

_Seriously_. But it's nice to know that even vamps aren't immune to serious mental illnesses.

I hopped onto the kitchen counter, pushing Embry off. He snarled at me so I threw a dish rag in his face. The whole thing led to a bit of a brawl and Esme begging us not to smash plates that nobody even used anyway. Jacob had to take us outside and give us a lecture on respecting peoples property which was even funnier because it was Jake talking. He didn't agree and stormed off to be with his child bride.

When we came back in, everyone was milling around the sitting room, talking about the only thing they ever seemed to talk about anymore. Renesmee. Honestly, you'd think they weren't been hunted into oblivion...by _something._

"She's started reading Wuthering Heights, haven't you Renesmee?" Bella was telling Jacob, proudly.

"Yes, Mother." The demon child answered, in a tone that clearly said 'shut up mother. Your arrogant bragging is embarrassing me'.

Well that was one thing we had in common. "Meh, I hated that Heathcliff dude. Total dickhead if you ask me. I don't get why everyone thinks he's such a babe."

Bella looked horrified at my assessment, or maybe at the discovery that I had actually read Wuthering Heights. I glared at her and looked over at Princess Fangface, who was smiling at me as though she'd finally found another person with half a brain. I didn't like that.

"Heathcliff is one of the greatest romantic heroes in history" Bella pontificated from across the room.

"Uh...no. He's an A List jerk, and a nutcase to boot. He's a wife beating, dog hanging whackjob...but whatever floats your boat, I guess." I raised an eyebrow at her for emphasis.

She shifted in her seat, trying to compose her self. It would not do for a strong, in control vampire to leap across the room and bite her werewolf bodyguard over a book discussion, would it? Especially when she was wrong. I rejoiced at her discomfort.

"That not entirely fair," she said slowly and _maturely_. "He didn't have a great childhood. All he knew was pain. Then he lost the only woman he ever loved."

"Oh Boo-friggin-hoo. Cry me a river an all that jazz. That other dude didn't have a good childhood either but he managed to turn out okay. He learned to read and everything. And old Heathy should have just done what normal people do...and get the hell over it."

"They were soulmates!" Okay now she was mad.

"Urm, newsflash...she died before they could be anything. At best they were like brother and sister. Hey, did you know that there is actually a theory that Heathcliff was Earnshaw's illegitimate son. Cathy's half _brother_!" I said, with mocking excitement.

She finally shut her trap and I headed towards the kitchen. As I left, I could swear I saw Renesmee smiling at me.

* * *

**Another A/N: **Had to edit this chapter because I noticed a mistake that I just couldn't live with. So I'll take this chance to answer some questions. If you're confused at this point, that's good. It's not a Blackwater but I don't think I could write a Leah story that didn't have some kind of romance, or at least flirtation in it. I do have someone in mind. *evil grin* Mai is pronounced 'my' as in "that's my chocolate truffle, get your hands off ";-)


	4. Seek

* * *

Disclaimer: Characters you recognise are Stephenie Meyer's. Characters you dont, are mine.

Seek 

The sun was beginning to set as I ran laps around the perimeter. I snuffled at the ground, trying to pick up my human scent. Tracking my way back to my clothes was a breeze. I usually left them closer to the house but I thought a walk would clear my head. After finding my dress, I shrugged it on and headed back to the Cullens.

I was about three miles away from the house when I felt someone watching me. The hair on the back of my neck prickled and my senses flared to the point of overreaction. My muscles tensed reflexively and my nostrils flared as I inhaled deeply.

The scent was bittersweet, not as sickly as fullblown leech but not as tangy as humans. It was nowhere near the earthy scent of werewolf so that left only one other person, _thing_, it could be. Renesmee sheepishly stepped from behind a tree. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "You didn't" I snarled. She kinda did but I wasn't going to let her know that anytime soon. "What do you want?"

Her perfect little face sparkled slightly in what was left of the sunlight. She studied her shoes, pretending to be shy. "I don't want to bother you. I just... I just had to get away for a little bit."

"So you decided to follow me?"

She bit her lip, flushing slightly. She was beautiful, nobody could doubt that but it was too pure, too perfect, to be anything but creepy. Bronze curls bounced around her face as she glanced at the floor again. It took a few seconds before she could bring herself to meet my eyes.

"You don't like me very much, do you Leah?" There was a hint of desperation in her voice, as though she already knew the answer but really hoped she was wrong.

I blinked slowly, my face a hard mask of stone. "That's not true. I don't like you at all."

She smiled sadly, looking so pathetic that I momentarily regretted my words. Momentarily. She nodded as though she had expected nothing less. "Everybody likes me. Everybody loves me." She said, her voice soft and bitter. She really didn't seem happy about this fact.

"Do you want me to feel sorry for you?"

She shook her head, curls falling upon her face so perfectly that I wanted to yank them from her head. I had to remind myself sometimes that she was only three. When she spoke, her voice was a whisper. "No...it's just very hard sometimes."

I was about to launch into a rant about poor kids in Africa and sad, neglected orphans when she suddenly burst out crying. It stunned me for a minute, I'd forgotten she could cry actual tears and not just weird, dry heaving sobs like the others. The first time I saw Esme cry, I thought she had been about to puke which was nearly as confusing.

"Oh, Leah,"she sobbed ."I wish you were my mother instead."

I sputtered. "What?"

"Then maybe I'd have a chance to be normal." She looked up at the sky, with a face full of sorrow. "Mother loves me, I know she does, but she expects me to be just like her. To think the same way she does. It's like I'm an extension of her and my father's love and not a real person. She wants me to be just like them."

There was no stopping her now she'd started, so I learned against a tree and tried to make sense of what I was hearing. I didn't really care that little miss bloodsuck was unhappy with her lot in her perfect little life, it's just not everyday that a leech tells you she wants you to be her mommy. So I shut up and let her whine on.

"I didn't like Heathcliff either. I thought he was an absolute beast of a man but Mother didn't even think to ask me if I liked him. She just assumed I would because she did. She tells me I'm beautiful because I look like my father and he tells me I'm beautiful because I have her eyes. I'm smart because they're smart. I'm gifted because they're gifted. They've claimed every part of me for themselves!...Even my lovelife!"she sniffled.

"You're three years old." I said. "You don't have a lovelife."

"Oh but Leah, I do and that's the problem. My life isn't mine. It's theirs, and it's all mapped out for me and I never had a choice, even before I was born. And I can't talk to them because they don't understand. They think it's a blessing that I have a soulmate."

I paused for a moment, a million different thoughts swirling round in my head. "Okay, I think I get it. You don't like Jacob, right?"

She sighed dramatically and looked at me as if I was slow. "I do like Jacob. I love him very much and I know we'll be together when I'm older." she paused for a moment, as if trying to think of the words to express her feelings. "I'm just very sad that I'll never know anything besides Jacob."

"You...wanna date other guys?" I said, barely believing that I was having this conversation with a toddler. A vampire toddler. That I didn't even care about.

"No. I just...,"her eyes sparkled with fresh tears. "I'll never know what it's like to fall in love, because I was already born in love. Do you understand now?"

I did. And for the first time since she chewed her way through Bella, I actually felt sorry for the kid.

* * *

It was dark when she finished crying so I walked her back home. Despite my disgust at her entire existence, I wasn't heartless enough to let a little girl walk though a dark forest alone. Even if she could just eat any weirdo that tried to grab her. She seemed absolutely delighted that I cared, even a little, for her safety and kept me talking the whole way back. She wanted to know what it was like, being the only female werewolf. The subject seemed to fascinate her and she quizzed me on battles I'd been involved in and vampires I'd fought. I think she thought I was, like, Xena or something.

I did a pretty good job of not being evil to her but I was glad when we reached the house. Embry, Jake and Quil were wrestling on the front lawn and I bounded over to join them. Her little face dropped as I left and I actually felt a tiny bit guilty, until Quil dragged me to the ground. Then I just concentrated on kicking ass.

We stayed around for a few more hours, discussing the vampires _great_ _matter_. Nobody had come up with anything new and I really couldn't muster up the patience to care much about it. I didn't see what the big deal was anyway. There had been no sign of vamps getting slaughtered around this neck of the woods. It's not like we had to start stocking up the weapons cupboard and sending for the cavalry, but Jasper was unofficially in charge of this mission and he seemed kinda excited about the possibility of war.

My mom was still up when I got home. She was watching The Notebook and I stopped myself from rolling my eyes. It didn't matter that her back was to me. My mom knew everything.

"Did you have a nice day?" she asked as I dropped onto the sofa beside her.

I snarled a yawn and rolled my shoulders. "Yep. Quil broke my nose and I found five bucks in the forest. Oh, and baby leech wants me to adopt her"

She looked at me as if I was seriously considering it. Mostly horrified but partly crowing that Bella had apparently failed as a parent. Mom still had problems with the leeches which was probably why it was best that Charlie was still oblivious to everything. I risked an eyeroll.

"God mom, I'm not going to steal Bella's kid. I mean, who knows what those things do. Maybe they devour their mothers when they get older."

My mom snorted and turned back to the TV. "It wouldn't be the first time."

And everyone wonders where I get it from.

* * *

The plan was simple as far as plans go. It was all the little considerations that were making his eyes ache. Getting there was the easiest part of all. Thanks to a wonderful new invention called Mastercard, they wouldn't even have to queue; but getting in was a whole other matter. They could breach the city but the building itself would be heavily guarded and the old ones would most certainly have a contingency plan in the event of an attack.

They would smell them from a mile off. Those two nasty hellcats could probably overpower one or two but their gifts would be useless against an army of their size.

"Still plotting?" A warm hand trailed under his shirt and a husky voice whispered in his ear. "Come to bed."

He leaned back, basking in the heat of hands that were slowly creeping down his chest. "Shane.."she whispered and he reached around and pulled her into his lap. She grinned down at him and rested her face in the crook of his neck, nipping his skin softly. His hands rested on her rear, pulling her closer, trying to mould her body into his.

"Are you two making out again.?"

The voice was as effective as cold water and they both growled at the sound. If she heard them, she didn't let on. "I'm entering the room in three seconds. Please have all your clothes on."

Carla practically jumped off his lap just as _she _walked in. She dropped onto the couch with a thud and a sigh. She wasn't half as graceful as the other one. She twirled a lock of hair around her finger, black silk marred with shocking violet strands that made her look Eurotrash at best.

"What's on TV?" she asked, swiping the remote from the coffee table. The telephone rang in another room and Carla went to answer it. She returned moments later. "Their plane just landed."

"What took them so long?" he snarled but Carla merely shrugged at his anger.

"The little one wanted to see the Eiffel Tower."

The girl snorted from across the room. "She's seventeen. Hardly a baby." She met his gaze. Her deep blue eyes were deceptively warm and playful but in them he saw a challenge. Instinct refused to allow him to look away.

"Beth.." Carla warned and, after a few seconds more, the girl dropped her gaze.

* * *

A few weeks after our little girl talk, or her nervous breakdown as I also liked to call it, Renesmee was still hanging around me. If anything, she'd gotten worse. Now whenever I left the house, she actually looked like she might be thinking about hugging me or something. I had to put a stop to it, which was easier said than done because she just looked so freaking happy.

I hadn't even walked through the door when she dragged me upstairs to show me her new doll. A creepy looking thing wearing a damn fugly dress.

"Her name is Amelia...after you" she said proudly, which was funny because my name was Leah. I didn't say anything though. She hadn't had a very good example set for her in the naming department.

She wanted me to help dress it and comb its hair. I lied that I had to find Jacob and talk about important Beta stuff. I was still at the top of the stairs when I froze, my senses kicking into overdrive. My skin twitched, everything in me telling me to phase and bash the front doors down.

There were leeches outside. Lots of them.

* * *


	5. Pressure

Disclaimer: Characters you know belong to Stephenie Meyer. Characters you don't recognise belong to me.

A/N: I am really sorry it's taken me so long to update. I've been hectic with work and life. This is a long one because I needed to get all this info in there and I haven't checked through it yet so please just ignore any typos. I'm going to read over it tomorrow but I just wanted to get it up. Thanks for your reviews!

Pressure

With narrowed eyes, I watched them from across the room. My skin tingled worse than a thousand pins and needles and my nose hair had been singed into oblivion. Jasper stood in front of Alice protectively, his eyes narrowed as he tried to assess the_ emotional climate_, or whatever he called it. Every few minutes, Alice would peek out from behind him only to be put firmly back in place by a strong arm.

Jacob sat in the chair but his back was straight and tense. He looked worried and barely holding it together. Quil had an arm on his shoulder, keeping him, and his sanity, in place.

Their leader stood, moving closer to Carlisle, which was unfortunate because that also brought him closer to me. The smell hit the back of my throat and I almost puked on Madame Cullen's antique Persian rug. I managed to hold back but nearly fell into Jacob's lap while trying to edge away from the stink.

"Carlisle," he said, arms outstretched. He planted two kisses on either side of the doctor's face. "I am sorry to intrude on you and your family. If there had been any other way."

Seth moved and a little girl vamp, that rivalled Renesmee for pure creepiness, hissed at him. He looked at Jacob, unsure of whether he should make a stand or just let it go. Jacob shook his head so Quil and I scowled at her instead.

Immediately, I felt a sharp stab of pain creeping through my skin. It wasn't backbreaking but each time I breathed it got more and more intense.

"Jane...,"the head vamp hissed and the pain stopped.

"Why did you come here, Aro?" Carlisle asked. His tone wasn't unfriendly but it left no doubt that he still remembered the circumstances in which they'd last visited.

Aro smiled softly at him. He looked like a cross between a naughty child and a hungry crocodile. "We were attacked," he said as though it was the news of the century. It probably was in vamp world. "Only a few of us managed to escape."

I eyed the small army of vamps behind him. The creepy little girl grinned at me. A young boy stood next to her, eyeing the _empty _mantelpiece behind me. They looked alike, all pouty lips and big, evil eyes. A woman, regal in posture and appearance, stood next to Aro. Her eyes darted wildly around the room and she looked like she might faint. She grasped Marcus's arm. Yeah, I remembered him...bored vamp who voted not to kill Renesmee. On his other side was a buff, cocky looking motherfucker who was busy undressing Rosalie with his nasty, red eyeballs.

I ignored the protective surge that flared inside me. I didn't want to think about what it meant. Leeches were target practise. At best, cannon fodder. They were _not _friends. Ever.

"Shame," I muttered and every last one of them glared at me. I was pretty annoyed to see that Edward had a similar expression.

I almost choked. "Oh, come on! They tried to waste your baby."

"They left when they found out they were wrong."

"They eat people...or did you forget about that?" I stared at him dumbfounded and his lips tightened into a thin line as he tried to think of a comeback to that one. There wasn't any. He knew that.

Aro cut in quickly, placing a hand on Carlisle's shoulder and regarding him with a friendly, almost pleading, smile. "We are more than willing to abide by your rules while we're here."

I snorted. He glared at me. "Why did you come here anyway? Don't you have, like, an emergency cave or something for times like this?"

His glare shifted into a scowl. "This is the last place they would think to look for us and it is a problem that effects us all. They have waged war on all vampires, not just The Volturi. They won't stop until we are all dead."

I stood quickly, arms across my chest. I reigned my anger in, keeping my posture defensive but with an edge that told him I would gladly rip his head off if he made me. He didn't seem to notice but the little girl shifted her position closer to him.

"Really? Well next time they try to kill you, could you give them my number? Coz I'd love to help."

"Traitor!" Jane hissed. He body pitched forward and her eyes flew to my throat, which should have sent my pack brothers stumbling over themselves to defend me. The lazy bastards just sat back enjoying the show. I saw Rosalie move an inch closer to me out of the corner of my eye. It put her in prime position to drag the leech off if made a move on me.

Seth stood and moved to my side. Better late than never.

"She doesn't mean it." He said, apologetically. "She's not going to run off and join our enemies."

"Our enemies? What the fuck?" I snarled. "You spend most of your time running round the woods and playing video games. Who the hell do you think you are? Rambo?"

He flushed slightly and I felt a little guilty. I did a quick sweep of the room to make sure that none of the leeches were going to eat my brother. The young boy looked a little hungry as he eyed Seth's red face but then he sniffed deeply and grimaced.

Aro sighed. "Carlisle. This is a war we must fight together."

I laughed, sharp and bitter. "Well thank you, Braveheart...but there _was _no war before you got here."

I heard a slam on the coffee table and spun around quickly. Esme was glaring at me, more fiercely than I'd ever seen her look at anyone before. "Leah" She said, her voice calm but firm. The same voice my mom used when she was very pissed off at me. Yeah, I was scared.

"Would you please be quiet and let them speak?"

I looked at the floor and shut my mouth. Footsteps sounded at the front door and a moment later Bella entered the living room. Edward walked behind her, carrying a sleeping Renesmee in his arms. Jacob's eyes lit up as he saw her, his thoughtful frown turning to mush. Her parents had taken her hunting when the vamps arrived, as a precaution and Jacob hadn't said a word since she'd been gone.

Jasper moved towards the centre of the room, still keeping half of his body in front of Alice. She glared at his back and his lips twitched slightly. His crossed his arms over his chest and turned to Aro. His face was a blank slate, showing no emotion and giving nothing away. "You said they. Do you know who it was that attacked you? Or what it was?"He added as an afterthought.

Aro nodded and bowed his head solemnly. "They called themselves The Order. There were many of them. Werewolves and...other creatures." Aro grimaced and I felt an instinctive shred of fear run through me. One look at my pack brothers told me I wasn't the only one. Anything that could scare and disgust a three thousand year old vamp was a hunter worth taking note of.

"What others?" Jasper asked. He didn't look the least bit worried, merely intrigued and a little excited.

"A great beast but I don't know what it was. It hypnotized Caius, then ripped his throat out."

Esme looked horrified and worried. She glanced at Carlisle. "Hypnotized? What kind of creature could do that?"

The doctor looked deep in thought but he placed a reassuring hand on his wife's arm and smiled softly at her. "I don't know, dear...but we will find out. Don't worry."

She buried her head into his chest and he placed a soft kiss upon her hair before glancing up at Aro. "This...beast. Do you remember anything else about it?"

Aro narrowed his eyes as he recalled the memory. It was obviously hard for him, remembering how his brother and subordinates were slaughtered in front of his very eyes. He looked all woe is me and all that shit but I honestly couldn't bring my self to care.

"It looked like...a cat. A large cat with a white patch of fur on it's chest"

The whole pack collectively rolled our eyes. A cat. Yeah, so what if had weird hypnotizing leech power. It was still a cat. Embry snorted and Seth socked him in the shoulder.

"How large?" Jacob asked. The sound of his voice shocked me. He seemed detached and distant. It had nothing to do with missing his girlfriend, who was right there curled against her daddy. Maybe it was something to do with him being Alpha. I straightened my back and swallowed any future snorts and sarcastic comment. He was right to take this seriously and as his Beta I had to follow suit. A threat was a threat and it should be treated with the proper consideration and thought before it was dismissed as 'just a freaking cat'

I was ashamed of myself for a minute but then I imagined Embry getting his ass handed to him by a cute little house cat. I had to smile.

Aro looked at me as if I needed to take my meds. He cleared his throat and turned back to Carlisle, completely ignoring Jacob.

"Not as large as those,"he said waving backhandedly at_ my little brother_. One more dismissive wave and I was going to tear his arm off. "But larger than a normal wolf, or even a tiger." He looked reflective for a moment. "Maybe not as large as a very large lion."

I rolled my eyes."Yeah, I think we get the picture, Einstein. It was big, but not _really_ big."

He ignored me and carried on. "There was a werewolf. There leader, I think. He killed Demetri and Chelsea and he would have killed me had it not been for Felix."

Felix grinned proudly, his muscles twitching unconsciously under his thin sweater. Yeah, I wasn't impressed. I was severely pissed that he had saved the life of what was swiftly becoming my least favourite leech _ever_. I let him know all this with a pride withering look and he raised his eyebrows questioningly, that stupid grin still plastered on his face.

I crossed my arms and turned away.

"What do they want?" Edward asked, from his perch on the nice comfy sofa. How hospitable, leaving all these poor, battle worn leeches standing in the middle of the room. Oh well. Edward's eyes met mine and his lips twitched in a barely covered smirk. Aro paced the room quietly.

"He talked about revenge. He said he would not stop until the earth was free from our kind."

Sounded like my kinda man. God, I seriously hoped this dude was handsome. I could just imagine him now. All sweat gleaning muscles and wild, battle swept hair. Making it his mission to rid the world of evil, bloodsucking---

"You should have seen what his mate did to poor Heidi"

Oh, he had a girlfriend. I rolled my eyes. Obviously.

Bella stroked Renesmee's hair, softly. "Why would they do that? Why would they want to wipe us out?"

Jasper shrugged, indifferently. "Survival,, probably. It's nothing that our kind haven't been doing to theirs for centuries. They are almost extinct...it makes sense that at least some would try to preserve their species."

Carlisle nodded. "And the best way to do that it to get rid of the main threat. Us"

The room fell silent for a moment. I cleared my throat apprehensively. "Okay. I don't want you to take this the wrong way. I don't want you guys to die...or some of you" I added, eyeing Aro and his followers, or soldiers, or whatever.

"But would it be so bad if these, werewolves wanted to get rid of a few bloodsucking leeches. I mean, the kind that eat humans?"

Bella blanched. "Leah, how could you say that? How would you feel if someone was hunting your kind for no reason?"

I almost laughed at her dramatics but decided that my point would go over a lot better if people weren't cursing me for being bitchy to Queen B. "Well, it's not exactly without reason, is it? I mean, they have been hunting them down so they can make pretty fur coats or whatever."

Aro stepped forward and I honestly thought he was going to smack me or something. He looked furious. "That is not why we hunted them, child. We did so to protect our own kind, a protection that has extended to yours."

I laughed. "From what? B grade werewolves and big, but not too big cats?"

"No. From a threat more deadlier than all of our species put together. Humans. They have the potential to wipe us out due to the sheer number of them. Only our ability to stay hidden protects us from we achieve this mainly through our ability to control our instincts. Werewolves cannot. They are slaves to the hunger and the rage that floods their veins."

I stared at him for a moment. I kept my face blank of emotion but my own anger was beginning to bubble away under the surface. I pulled the sweetest smile from my long forgotten repitore.

"Sounds like they have good reason to want you dead." I said. And with that, I turned and walked away.


	6. Steam

Disclaimer: Characters you recognised belong to Stephenie Meyer. Characters you don't, belong to me. The Malleus Maleficarum is not mine and neither is Weekly World News.

A/N: Thanks for your reviews!

A/A/N: Had to delete this first time round because it uploaded really weird even after editing. I didn't want anyone to have to read it while it was all mashed up and wrong so I just whipped it off. Hope you enjoy it!

Steam

"I don't like this, Leah."

I sighed and stuffed a handful of underwear into a tatty old rucksack. "Yeah, I don't like it either, Mom but I have no choice. The great one has spoken."

She pursed her lips and studied me for a moment. My mom was a formidable opponent and I had to mentally override the urge to do whatever she said. I reminded myself that I was twenty three years old. I was a woman, an adult capable of making her own decisions and blindly following her Alpha's orders. I cleared my throat and pulled my shoulders back.

"Mother," I started, my voice strong and firm.

She crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. I decided to change tactics and softened my posture. Even a genetically superior being wouldn't argue with Sue Clearwater when she was pissed and determined. I sighed and placed a reassuring smile on my face.

"Mom, It's not like I'm moving out or anything. Jake just wants us altogether until we know more about this threat."

"He wants you to play bodyguard to his hybrid imprint. That's what he wants. And he'll think nothing about dragging you into fight you're not part of just to keep her safe."

I opened my mouth to protest but she continued. "He'd put all of your lives on the line if he had to. Hell, he'd probably kill you himself if he thought he had no other choice. Do you really think he'd choose to save any one of you over her? "

"That's---It's---"

I couldn't think of anything else to say. I'd heard these words before in my own head. It was a question I'd considered ever since our wonderful Alpha had ran away from a _major battle_ to protect his imprint. I still hadn't forgiven him for it. Without our leader at the helm, there was a good chance that our pack would have fallen apart, not to mention the loss of one of our best fighters. If things had gone The Volturi's way, then I could be mourning my little brother right now. And that was unforgivable.

I finished packing in silence and gave my Mom a comforting hug. "We'll be fine, Mom. It's just for a little while. And don't worry about Seth, I'll take care of him."

A car horn sounded outside. _Quil. _I tossed the bag over my shoulder and planted a kiss on my mother's cheek. "I'll call you everyday. Besides...just think of all the alone time you'll have with Charlie."

With a parting grimace, I bounded out of the door.

* * *

Mai inhaled deeply, basking in the bittersweet scent of tomatoes. She handed the bowl to the young girl at her side, with a soft smile.

The child took it and grimaced. Beth scowled at her, a hiss rumbling low in her throat. "Don't just stare at it. Eat it."

"It smells horrible."

Mai spoke before the older girl could. "It's good for you. It will make you strong and healthy."

The girl regarded her advice with an almost disgusted indifference. "I'm already strong and healthy." Beth snorted and tossed a bread roll at the young girl's head.

"Then why do you act like a little baby?"

Mai glared at her from across the table. The last thing she wanted was an argument between these two, especially with Shane and Carla sleeping in the next room. The girl shoved the bowl of soup into the middle of the table. "I don't want it. It's too hot."

Mai pulled the bowl towards her and softly touched the side. The billowing steam faded into the air around them. "Now it will be better, Katie. Take it, please," she urged, holding the bowl out to the young girl. Katie sighed and snatched the bowl from her hand.

"Fine, I'll eat it, but I _won't_ like it." she spat, snarling at Beth who was giggling into her soup

* * *

I sighed and closed the book with a thud. Jasper looked up from his copy of Malleus Maleficarum.

"Anything interesting?" He asked, his lips twitching in a smile. I growled at him and he laughed softly.

"You?" I stretched, planning ways in which I could get revenge on my pack brothers for leaving me to this torture. I had been nominated for book duty while they got to run round and 'defend' the perimeter. _Honestly._ I hadn't minded at first. It was nice to be useful as Leah and not just as the _only female wolf_ but after half a day and night of reading, I was beginning to see stars.

"Yes, but nothing relevant to our research."

I flopped back onto the couch and rested my feet on the coffee table. Bella looked up from the computer. Her gaze flickered between my degradation of expensive furniture and Jasper, who pointedly ignored her. She bit her lip, and reluctantly turned back to the screen. I grinned at the blond haired vamp. Blanking Bella and not yelling at me for soiling the furniture put him lower on my leech death list.

Embry entered the sitting room. His face was flushed and his eyes watered slightly. "Done puking?" I asked.

He swallowed hard, trying not to breathe too deeply. "It's all these vamps. The stink is fucking awful."

Bella's head spun round. She looked about ready to launch into a piece about tolerance and acceptance. Her nose twitched slightly and she struggled to hide her disgust. Jasper grinned at me from over his book.

Embry picked up my discarded book and frowned at the title. He dropped it back onto my lap. "I'm gonna go catch up to Seth. Have fun," he smirked. I launched the book at his head but he was already out of the room.

I heard the front door open and my skin prickled as I got a whiff of leech from outside. I sat up, my muscles coiling involuntarily, and the switch that triggered my phasing was set firmly on edge. It took under a second for my brain to filter the source of the smell and when it did I relaxed only slightly.

The door opened and Jane glided into the room, Felix and Alec at her heel. Alec stood by the window while Felix dropped into a vacant chair. She stopped in the middle of the room and paused for a moment as though she was going to announce the coming of the apocalypse or who won the Oscar or something. It was all very tense and dramatic.

"We've interrogated every vampire in this area. Nobody has ever heard of this...beast or the group known as The Order. They were entirely unhelpful."

"They might have been a bit more helpful if you tried asking instead of interrogating them," I muttered. My words earned me a sharp glance but she didn't hiss and fly for my throat this time, so that was an improvement.

"Don't worry, babe. We're not always vicious monsters. We can play nice." Felix grinned at me, his dark eyes glittering with innuendo. He was sprawled all over the chair, arms resting on the sides and legs spread in a posture that my human instincts clearly recognised. He was an arrogant dick. Who the hell did he think he was calling me babe? I contemplated spitting in his eye, but Carlisle's voice snapped me back to reality.

"There's been a murder in Seattle." He said as he walked into the room. Jacob and Quil ambled in behind him. Jake rolled his shoulders and snarled a yawn.

"So, they're getting closer." Jasper said, his eyes clouded in thought. Knowing him he was probably planning battle tactics and strategies.

Carlisle nodded. He also looked lost in thought but his eyes were hooded and worried. "Too close." he murmured to himself. "How far have you gotten with the research?"

Jasper snapped his book shut with a weary sigh. "We've read everything we could manage to get our hands on. Anthropology texts, religious books, Weekly World News. Nothing seems to match the descriptions."

He leaned over the coffee table and picked up a sheath of papers, sifting through them until he found what he was looking for. "We do have a few theories but nothing solid."

Carlisle leaned against the fireplace."Well, what do you have so far?"

Jasper paused and I understood why. Bella and I had helped him compile that list over the _thirteen_ hours we'd spent researching. Some of the theories were pretty weird. "Well...it could be a witch."

Felix scoffed. Bella and I glared at him. Jasper looked to be in full agreement with Dickhead's assessment.

Jane looked puzzled. "A witch?" she asked, her cherubic face screwed up in confusion. "Do they even exist?"

Carlisle shook his head. "We have to consider every possibility, Jane. No matter how strange it may seem."

"This is ridiculous." Felix snorted. Everybody ignored him. Carlisle moved to stand behind Jasper, his eyes skimming the page in the blond vampire's hand. "Hmm. A werecat. Could that be a possibility?"

"Yes, but it's too general. There could be a thousand different creatures with the ability to change into a cat. Just like we can have shapeshifters who turn into wolves and werewolves who turn into wolves...almost" he added with a grimace. "We need a more specific description of this cat if we want to know how to stop it."

"Could it not be a shapeshifter...like these?" Jane asked, her gaze settling on me.

Biting back a growl, I shifted in my chair so I was only half facing the bitch. I handed Carlisle a sheet of paper. "The Elders didn't know anything but we've found reports of other possible shapeshifters. Not just Native Americans but tribes in Peru, Africa and even Eastern Europe. We don't know if any of it's true but there's nothing to suggest that it isn't."

Carlisle studied the sheet and placed it back on the table. "It makes sense that there would be others besides yourselves."

"Yeah, well...we've been talking about it...," I glanced at Jasper and he nodded, "...and we thought it might be worth trying to track them down. See if they know anything."

The door opened, bouncing off the wall with a bang. Rosalie stalked into the room, arms folded and eyes gleaning with barely suppressed pride.

"No need. "She said, her voice thick and smooth as honey. Felix eyes roved over her body with a lazy smile and I couldn't stop the growl that escaped from my throat. His smile disappeared and he stared at me, confused.

Rosalie took centre stage and all eyes focused on her. She lifted her chin, clearly enjoying the attention. "Siobhan's just returned your call, Carlisle. She thinks she might know what we're dealing with."

* * *


	7. Dance

Disclaimer: Characters you recognise belong to Stephenie Meyer. Characters you don't, belong to me.

A/N: Thanks for your reviews and because I just know someone is going to ask me this:-p Cat Sidhe is pronounced "Kett Shee" or you can pronounce it "Cat Shee"

Dance

Rosalie refused to tell us what Siobhan had said until we were all assembled. She would however tell us that it was nothing good. So we had to wait a whole fifteen minutes for Seth and Embry to get back from patrolling. Then when we called Esme and Alice, they were still grocery shopping, so we had to wait for them to come home. An hour later, I wanted to remove Rosalie's skull from her head.

We all stared at each other. Some of us in disbelief, some of us still swallowing our tongues, but all of us were dumbfounded.

"A what?" I sputtered.

"Cat Sidhe, also known as Cat Sith. Legends vary. Some say it's a witch, some say it's a fairy but in all of them, it's a black cat with a white patch of fur on its chest."

Emmett let out a big, booming laugh. "A...fairy?"

Rosalie glared at him then rolled her eyes at his placating grin. "That's just a legend. Like vampires sleeping in coffins and werewolves and their silver bullets. Doesn't mean it's true. Siobhan said she's never seen one, she thought they were just a myth, but the description matches."

Carlisle bit his lip, thoughtfully. "Did she mention the hypnosis?"

"No...but like I said, the myth is just a basis. They may have abilities that are unknown, they may even be completely different as the legends describe them, but at least it's a start."

Jacob sat back in his chair and sighed. "I dunno. It sounds...weird." We all stared at him in silence. Weird was rich coming from a werewolf. He sat up and leaned forward, his face entirely disbelieving.

"Vampires being hunted and killed by a shapeshifting, Irish fairy?" He enunciated.

Yeah. That was weird. The room descended into madness. People were shouting over each other. The lines were clearly drawn. Some thought it was outrageous, others thought it was nuts but worth looking into. A few, one of whom I am no longer related to, though it was a perfectly normal explanation.

Rosalie raised her hands to quiet everyone down. When that didn't work, she settled for screeching, "Shut the fuck up! All of you."

We did.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes in an effort to gather her composure. Her shoulders relaxed slightly but the death glare remained firmly in place. "Just because people _say_ it's a goddam fairy doesn't mean it's true. They say vampires are evil and that we have no souls, _and _that we are destined to burn in hell, which is completely ridiculous."

Edward shifted uncomfortably in his chair and looked at Bella from the corner of his eye. Hmm. Interesting. If deadward thought he was destined for hellfire then why was he all set to change Bella before creepy baby made an appearance? He looked at me, his face twisted in pain and shame. I sent him my most comforting thought. _Hey, you did her a favour. At least she can stand up now without falling over. _

His expression changed and he turned away from me with a disgusted glare. _Honestly_. That's the last time I ever try to be nice to a leech. Renesmee, who had awoken from her nap and was now perched on the chair arm next to Jacob, gave me a soft smile. I begrudgingly, against my better judgement, nodded at her and looked at the ceiling.

"Okay, so we have an idea of what these things are. Do we know how to kill them?" Emmett asked. His face lit up at the idea of a possible fight. He looked like a little boy at Christmas.

Rosalie sniffed and threw him a warning glance. "She doesn't know. She guesses they'd be susceptible to the same attacks as we are." She said, gesturing round the room. "Fire, vampire, werewolf...the usual...but she doesn't know," she added quickly, probably not wanting to be blamed if the info was a dud. She glanced over at Alice and after a slight pause, addressed the tiny vampire.

"Can you see---?"

Alice cut her off, more harshly than necessary. "I can't see anything!And I won't while they're involved,"she spat, glaring at Jacob. Her short, black hair was in a state and her usually immaculate clothes were crumpled. The combination of trying to induce a vision _and _self annoyance over her failure to do so had left her with a throbbing headache and a short temper. Jasper went to her side, his long fingers smoothing gently through her messy hair and resting on the back of her neck. She relaxed slightly as they worked her tense muscles.

I felt a kick in the pit of my stomach but forced it down, telling myself not to be so weak and emotional. Still, it must be nice to have someone who cared enough to try and make it all go away. Jasper's eyes flickered to mine briefly but his face remained impassive. One thing I liked about this leech. He never pretended to give a shit.

"Did Siobhan have any more information?" he asked Rose. "Did she know what other abilities they might have?"

Good question. Probably the most important one. Guess you never stop being a soldier, even after a hundred years.

Rosalie shook her head, blonde hair cascading over tenses shoulders. "No. She's going to see if she can find anything else. She said she'll call back later and speak to Carlisle about it."

Aro who had been watching the exchange in silence, rose from his seat on the sofa. Jane and Alec moved beside him and Felix, after a low huff of annoyance, also stood. Only the head leech's wife, Sulpicia, remained seated. Aro moved a little closer to Rosalie.

"Is this, Siobhan, going to join us, here?" He asked. Rose straightened instinctively but her expression was one of boredom.

"She won't come. They are having a dispute with another coven. One of them has taken an, unrequited, fancy to Maggie and she won't take the risk of leaving them."

Aro nodded. "Very well." He said, reclaiming his seat on the sofa. The others remained standing.

"We need to find as much information as possible." Jasper said, his hand still on Alice's neck.

"Leah, Bella and I can continue sifting through the legends and myths. Esme can help us when she has some spare time." He paused and looked over at Carlisle, who nodded, before he continued. "Jacob and his pack can continue to control the perimeter."

"I'll have to talk to Sam. Let him know what's going on." My stomach dropped as Jacob said _his_ name. It had been so long but it still wasn't going away.

Aro stood once more. "We can continue questioning the vampires we know of," he said, gesturing to what was left of his coven. Jane looked positively thrilled at the idea.

Jasper nodded. "Of course," he said with more respect than I thought the leech deserved. "It might be worth trying to track down the other tribes. See if they can give us any information."

"Emmett and I will do that." Rosalie said. And just when everyone thought she was being particularly selfless and helpful, she added, "It's been a while since we've had some quality time together."

She was so gonna spend her mission shopping and sunning herself in Africa. Alice stood up with a weary sigh. "I'll join you." Both Rosalie, and Emmett, seemed determined she wouldn't but it was Jasper she turned to. "I need to get away for a while. This place is giving me a headache, literally."

She looked up at him from under her eyelashes. His face remained impassive and his jaw was set. I felt a wave of worry and love sweep over me and a steady determination that I would not let her go anywhere. I wasn't the only one judging by the look on everyone else's faces.

"Jasper..."she said, beseechingly.

"I'll go with you," he said.

Alice looked at me and Bella, her face a mixture of barely concealed delight and guilt. Looked like Rose wasn't the only one lusting after another honeymoon. Jasper looked a little guilty himself, having knowledge of the pure torture that was endless research. Rosalie glared at me, imploring me to beg Jasper to stay. To throw such a tantrum that he'd seem like a dick if he left. He would never let Alice out of his sight with an unknown threat out there, and she wouldn't go with his consent.

Because I'm not a completely heartless bitch, I ignored her. I let out a sigh.

"Jasper, why don't you research from the road? You can call in with any information you find and Bella and I can look into it. Y'know, with the computer and all."

Both him and Alice looked at me as though they wanted to eat me. Yeah, they were pretty happy with me at that moment. Rosalie smirked. "I have an idea. Why doesn't Felix stay behind and help you two research?"she said, far too sweetly. What. A. Bitch.

"That's okay. We can manage." I replied, through gritted teeth.

Felix grinned and rolled his shoulders. "I'd be glad to help you out." He said, leering at both me and Bella. Edward hissed but he ignored him. "Just tell me what you two need and I'll be entirely at your service."

As everyone exited the room, I pulled Jasper to one side. He looked worried, probably picking up the intense waves of anger emanating from my body. "Just remember something when you're passing through Europe, leech. Belgian chocolates are my favourite."

He smiled, a broad grin, and grabbed my wrist. He dropped a kiss on top of my head. I waited until he'd left before I wiped my hand over my hair.

* * *

She danced around a blazing fire, wind whipping her hair. It was bitter cold but she was too happy to notice. A young girl played a fiddle, fast and sharp, and she changed her pace to match. Far in the distance, the wolves howled. She smiled, head tipped back as she revelled in the noise.

Milosh pulled her cousin, Kizzy into the bushes, a deep laugh rumbling from his chest, as they played a familiar game and she smiled at the joy on both their faces. Men fell over drunk and women taunted them for their inability to hold their liquor.

The wolves sounded again, both sharp and deep, and the contrast made her blood freeze. A warning that she had only heard once as a child. She looked to her grandmother. Her old face was tense with worry but her lips were tight in defiance.

"Mirela," she whispered and the young girl rushed to her side. "Help Nadya put the children to bed."

She did as she was asked, her hands trembling as she lay them down to sleep and laughed off their worried questions. The music played once more. Outside, the men took up thick branches, blazing with fire and ash, and Kizzy and Milosh hurried from the forest, the girl adjusting her skirt. The atmosphere had changed, a thread of fear and tension weaving through the cold, night air but still they danced on.

* * *

A/N: Cat Sidhe is a real mythological creature. Meaning it's probably not real and never was but I didn't make it up :-) I used the basic idea and twisted and changed it until it suited me. I know this has probably been a little slow over the past two chapters but I needed to get all these details in here. Next chapter, we will be getting out of that living room. I promise. For the most part anyway;-)

* * *


	8. Heat

Disclaimer: Characters are not mine. I haven't made a penny (or even half of one) of this story.

A/N: I'm not very happy with this chapter but here it is. I couldn't tweak it anymore without going stark raving mad. I'm sorry this update has been a long time coming. It's a mix between life, work and writers block (this chapter just would not work with me) I'd blame Felix but he's just too damn sexy.

Heat

It was a good day. The sun was shining, flowers were in full bloom, cute little animals were probably bopping around somewhere. I bounded into the sitting room, stifling a yawn as I went.

"Okay, I am rested, refreshed and raring to go." I said brightly.

Edward looked up from his book, eyebrow raised. "You didn't get any sleep, did you?"

I shook my head so hard it should have fallen off. "Not a wink. So I'm hyperactive and borderline manic. But I'm still raring to go. What have we got?" I asked, practically snatching the book from his hand.

"Nothing," he sighed. "I'm beginning to think reading these books is pointless."

"I've been saying that since we started." Felix scoffed.

I stared at him, probably wide eyed but I was aiming for a full on glare. "Like you would know. I think you've read six pages in the whole week. You spend all of your time grunting and adjusting yourself."

He answered me with a smirk and a wink. "It's not easy being so well equipped. Gotta keep the boys in order."

Both Bella and I, and I'm sure Edward was thinking it, simply said "Ew!"

Renesmee entered the room and Edward and Bella sent glares directly to the two of us. They were easily decoded. Talk about Felix and his...equipment was officially over, which was fine by me.

"Hello, Leah,"

I smiled softly at Nessie. I was operating on maybe two hours sleep in over three days. Being a bitch was just too hard today. Edward looked appreciative of my attempts to be nice to his only child, while Bella looked slightly annoyed, for some reason that I couldn't be bothered to think about.

Thinking was also too hard today.

"So, anything new come up?" I tried to stop myself from bouncing round the room. I stood over Bella, looking down at the sheets of paper she held. Writing things down wasn't a necessity since everyone in the room possessed a photographic memory, but it helped when we didn't have the time, or inclination, to relay information to each other.

"Jasper called last night. He and the others were just leaving Namibia. They'll be back within the next few days."

I nodded and centered the ming vase. Bella droned on.

"They did find some interesting information. About female shapeshifters."

I stopped, a flare of hope in the pit of my stomach. Someone like me? A person who could understand what it was like. Somebody I could bitch to about men and how much they smell, or someone I could cry to about my lost chance at being a mother without them hightailing it out of the room.

Bella gave me a moment to gather my thoughts before she continued. "She lived about 350 years ago. Her tribe phased into lions."

My face must have shown my disappointment because her features softened. "Her tribe revered her as a goddess," she said, forcing a note of happiness into her voice. I appreciated the effort...even if she did suck at it.

I smiled, just knowing that it looked fake and plastic. "Wow, and I can't even get Embry to give me the last cheese puff."

Felix laughed and everyone glared at him.

I excused myself, getting as far as the door before my impulse overcame me. I didn't look back as I spoke. "Did she--did the woman ever have kids...or anything?"

I didn't wait to hear the answer. The look on their faces told me everything I needed to know. I nodded and headed upstairs.

* * *

Rosalie's room was my assigned quarters. It was the picture of luxury and opulence. Silk sheets and drapes, glossy mags strewn around...it was a woman's room and the very opposite of where I needed to be at that moment, but it was quiet and it was going to stay quiet. Nobody stepped one foot in Rose's room without written permission, not even Emmett.

I threw myself on to the bed with a sigh. Yeah, I was still a freak but at least I wasn't the only one...even if she was a 350 year old pile of dust and ashes. I propped my chin on my hands and stared out of the window. A little bird hopped through a tree outside. It gave a tweet and then flew away...taking all my hopes and dreams with it, I thought, before I told myself to shut up and stop being an idiot.

The door opened and I leapt up quickly. Felix swaggered in and dropped onto the end of the bed. I waited for him to explain himself but he started flicking through a copy of Cosmo that Rose had left lying around.

"Ten ways to give your lover the best--," He muttered.

I snatched the magazine out of his hands. "What the hell are you doing?" I shrieked.

He shrugged. "Keeping you company."

I was dumbfound, speechless and completely confused. "And you didn't think it would have been a good idea to knock?"

He obviously didn't judging by the look on his face.

"I could have been naked in here."

He raised and eyebrow and smirked. "Really?"

I punched him in the face. He pitched back slightly and then started laughing as he spat deer blood and venom into his hand. The other covered his nose. "God, they said you guys were strong but I didn't expect that." He let out a bark of laughter before his face became serious. He stood and stalked towards me slowly.

I moved back until I was up against the dresser, glaring up at him. His eyes, slightly dulled by a week of feasting on animal blood, blazed, half furious and half excited. He looked hungry. "Don't ever do that again," he spat.

I pulled myself up to my full height, which didn't make much difference really. "Or what? You'll bite me? I thought your master was 'more than willing to play by the rules.'"

His jaw set and his eyes narrowed. I smiled sweetly.

"Seems to me that your threats are pretty empty. Hey, if you wanna blow hot air, that's fine with me but word of advice...making threats that you're not allowed to carry out just makes you look like a chump."

Both his hands went to the wall beside my head so quickly that I barely had time to react. My first instinct was to push past him, free some space in case it came down to a brawl but it was easier said than done. Trying to get past him was like pushing up against a stone wall. A feat beyond my enhanced strength. A sliver of fear was creeping up my spine and the beast inside me was threatening to give way to panic. I was trapped, plain and simple. Yelling for help would only mark me as game in his eyes. So, I folded my arms and gritted my teeth. Let him mistake my fear for anger, which wasn't a far stretch.

"I doubt my _master_ would care too much if you accidentally tripped and fell on my teeth," he smiled at his own lame joke. "Especially considering the way you put his nose out of joint when we first got here."

"Whatever you have to tell yourself to get over the fact that you're his bitch."

He didn't acknowledge that I'd even spoken._ Bastard_. "I doubt the Cullen's would care too much either. So that just leaves your pack... and from what I gather, they can't wait to be rid of you."

"Go fuck yourself," I hissed.

His bought his face as close to mine as he'd get without buying me dinner first. His eyes lingered on my lips and a smirk spread across his face. He shrugged, and stepped back.

"I'd rather you do the honours," he said, with a lazy smile.

Within a minute he was out of the door. I waited until I couldn't hear his footsteps before I dropped to the floor.

* * *


	9. Strike

**Disclaimer:** Characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, not me.

**A/N:** I'm not liking this chapter either but if I stress much more then you'll probably waiting a month for me to put it up. I have a new plan since my old one went berserk and massacred every bit of plot I had. (Don't you hate it when that happens.) so I'm getting there slowly but surely.

**Strike**

My run in with Felix had scared me, as much as I hated to admit it. It wasn't so much the fact that he could rip my throat out before I could blink, but I knew there was a strong possibility that no one would give a shit if he did.

I annoyed my pack endlessly, even if I was their Beta, the Cullens could barely tolerate me...and the new leeches were probably plotting my demise as we spoke. I really couldn't be bothered with all this Dynasty, soap opera shit.

I slammed the door behind me as I left the house, phasing before I even hit the forest. It was cool out today. Manoeuvring through bushes and brambles was a little awkward now my hair was bit longer but the feel of breeze whipping through my fur made up for any inconvenience. I loved days like this when nobody else was phased and I was completely alone in my own mind. The whole world seemed to come alive around me, a product of my wolf senses and faded human emotions that told me being wanted was unnecessary and not really that important.

I chased a rabbit, more for the fun of it than anything else. His little ears twitched defiantly and the wolf in me interpreted this as a challenge._ Come and get me_, his beady eyes screamed, so I gave chase, stopping only two seconds before I sunk my teeth into it's neck. It was getting harder and harder to pull back in time.

_Leah, phase and meet me at the beach. Quick._

Jacob's voice in my head made me stop cold. My prey skittered away but I was past caring. _What's going on?_ I asked. The only answer I got was a running list of battle plans and formations. I ran back to get my dress, because there was nothing important enough to have me prancing around in the buff, and then took off toward the beach.

* * *

The beach was deserted, not a strange thing considering the sun was beginning to set. Mai had always found it more beautiful at this time of day. There was nothing like looking out into the horizon, seeping red into gold and setting alight the sky.

Katie hissed at her side. It wasn't the same sound the blonde female was making. Katie's hiss was a low rumble in her chest, a contralto growl and she could see that it set the vampires nerves on edge.

"We don't want any trouble," the blond male said stepping forward. He didn't do anything as cliché as raise his arms or soften his voice. His every move was fluid and controlled. His eyes focused on Beth, who was regarding the exchange with her familiar nonchalance and apathy.

"You exist don't you? That means you're in for a world of trouble." Carla said, her shoulders raised in a gesture that Mai recognised as instinctive. The blond turned his face to her and her twisted features became calm. She shook her head and within seconds, her furious expression was back in place.

"Jasper, don't make it mad," the little dark haired girl at his side whispered. Katie giggled at the note of fear in the vampire's voice but it was the look on Beth's face that troubled Mai more.

The girl's head whipped around, in the direction of the forest, just a few yards from the beach. She seemed untroubled by whatever it was she could hear but her expression remained confused and thoughtful.

"We don't kill humans. You have no need to attack us," Jasper was saying to Carla. Mai had missed whatever words had inspired the conversation to turn as it had, but now she was all ears. Vampires lived for little else than feeding. She had seen rooms full of human corpses, rotting like discarded cattle, as a bloodsucker crazed for the tiniest drop he could find.

"There's something in the woods, Carla"

Katie's voice was free of fear, only curiosity and mild excitement laced her words. Beth, who had always been the most rational out of the two, had enough intelligence to look worried if not afraid. "I heard them a few minutes ago. There's more than one and they're heading our way."

Carla took advantage of the distraction to launch herself at Jasper. Her ability to do much damage was limited in the absence of a full, or any, moon but her crazed attack was enough to send him sprawling onto the sand. The brawny male went to his leaders aid while the two women crouched in front of them, hissing defensively.

It took Katie seconds to turn and she ran to help Carla, leaving Mai and Beth, who still seemed confused, at the mercy of the women. "Beth, do something. Change." she snapped softly in an attempt to shock the young girl out of her daze.

"But they said---,"

A group of youngsters marched towards them. They were tall and well built, sharing the same brown skin and black hair. Each movement seemed rehearsed, as thought they existed as one. Mai just knew they were going to be trouble.

"Hurry up. The others are coming."

Beth looked past her and, upon seeing that the group had broken into a run and was rushing towards them, her skin began to pop and shimmer. A black film crept up her arm and within minutes, she was rushing towards Carla and Katie.

Mai hadn't realised just how big the others were until they were towering over her. The tallest stood at the front, his skin trembling as he spat curse after curse at her but Mai wasn't focused on his words. Two of his friends had joined in the battle and she heard yelping and screaming in equal parts. Only a woman and a boy, similar in features stood with the man before her. A current of fear ran through her, and she eyed the woman beside him, calculating the odds of receiving her sympathy. It was pointless even asking. The girl looked just as angry and as deadly as the man standing a half step in front of her.

The younger boy stepped closer to her, his thick hands coming up as though his next move was to grab her around the neck. Heat overwhelmed her, and she choked on the sudden change in temperature. She took a moment to consider what this meant and then she smiled.

Against the vampires, she was pretty much powerless but this new development put her back in the game.

* * *

The chick didn't look like much of a fighter. Embry and Quil were going nutso on her friends, and not doing as much damage as I expected they would, and this woman was just standing there doing nothing. Well, she was shaking a little bit but she was doing nothing productive. She even seemed scared, poor thing. But y'know what they say, you run with supernatural crazies, you're bound to get your ass handed to you at one point or another.

Seth stepped forward to demonstrate this exact point, or maybe give her a hug knowing my brother, but the second he moved, her face changed. She had gone from trembling in fear to smiling like a loon, and that was never a good sign.

Her hand whipped up, quickly, grabbing Seth around his wrist. Both Jacob and I moved towards them before her skin even touched his but we were just a little too late. His breath caught and his teeth began to chatter slightly. We both watched amazed as he dropped to the floor. The woman breathed heavily, little clouds of mist forming with each exhalation. One look at the satisfied smirk on her face and I leapt at her.

Strong arms pulled me back before I made contact and I found myself crumbling to the floor beside my brother. I reached out to him. His skin was cool to the touch.

"Carlisle," I screamed, as I saw the Cullens wade in on the fight. The woman and all her friends started to back off as they saw the sheer number they were facing, they took off towards the road and Emmett made a move to follow them before he was stopped by Edward.

"Let them go. We don't want a fight in public. People could get hurt."

Emmett nodded with a disappointed sigh and Edward put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Oh and welcome home."

Carlisle was tending to Seth. He wrapped his jacket around him and instructed me and the rest of the pack to crowd around him. "What the fuck did that bitch do to my brother?" I hissed, my voice thick with worried emotion, even to my own ears.

Nobody could tell me.

* * *


	10. Thaw

**Disclaimer:** Characters you recognise are Stephenie Meyer's. Characters you dont, are mine.

**A/N:** Thanks to everybody who has stuck with me through this. I know I've kept you waiting for this update for a while but I hope you enjoy.

**Thaw**

Sleeplessness is a strange feeling. The world seemed dull and intense at the same time. I had been awake for three straight days waiting for my brother to come around. Carlisle had already told me he was going to be okay but I wasn't leaving anything to chance. I willed him to get better, apologising for everything from letting the bitch get her hands on him, to breaking his GI Joe when he was nine.

He was sleeping peacefully, his temperature at a normal level. According to Carlisle, the sudden drop in body heat had caused him to slip into a coma, slowing down his ability to heal. I didn't understand much of the medical mumbo jumbo he came out with, but I did know that this was something I would never forget and I certainly wasn't going to let it pass.

**************************************************

It was noon by the time I woke up. Seth was still sleeping, sprawled out on the bed while I huddled in a chair but I didn't have the heart to grumble. I was just happy that he was going to be okay, even if he did snore loud enough to wake the entire house.

There was a tentative knock on the door before Esme slipped her head around and crept in quietly.

"It's okay," I told her. "Not even a bulldozer could wake him up."

She smiled softly and set down a steaming mug of hot chocolate on the table. "Why don't you come downstairs, Leah? I can make you something to eat. Seth will be okay for a little while. I can even ask Bella to watch over him, if that makes you feel better."

I shook my head. "Thank you. But I'm gonna stay here for just a little while longer. Just until he wakes up."

Esme nodded and walked over to the door. "If you change your mind, I'll be in the kitchen."

I gave her the most sincere smile I could muster. She was probably going to spend the next two hours cooking enough food to feed three packs of werewolves, so it was the least I could do.

"Leah....,"

I must have dozed off because I didn't hear anyone else come into the room. Felix was standing in the door way, his face clear of that shit eating grin. He glanced over at Seth, dismissing him almost immediately but then, compassion isn't that important when you spend your life slaughtering people.

"What do you want?" I spat at him. I was far too tired to play nice and even if I wasn't, I certainly wasn't going to begin with this leech.

"I'm here to check up on you." He rolled his eyes at my answering snort and moved closer to the bed. His expression shifted a little, so subtle that I could barely make it out. "It wasn't your fault."

Asshole. I didn't even try to hold back the growl that bubbled in my throat. "No, it was yours."

"Mine?" The sincere shock, the raised eyebrow, the amused grin---I wanted to rip it all off his face. Hell, I just wanted to rip his face off.

"Yeah, yours. You and your fucking friends. He wouldn't even be in this situation if you lot hadn't of come here."

My arrow didn't strike as hard as I wanted it to, or as hard as I expected. That grin is still plastered firmly on his face. "Or, more likely, he could have ended up a lot worse without the Volturi as back up. Do you really believe that The Order wouldn't have found their way here?"

"Yes," I spat, even though I wasn't so sure. "We've been in one fight already and I don't recall you or your leech buddies making an appearance."

"No?" He asked, his eyebrow going up again. Goddam it, I thought these freaks were supposed to be carved out of marble or something. I didn't answer. His expression was daring, confident that my answer would be wrong. I snarled my lip at him and turned back to Seth.

"I pulled you out of the way."

The sentence sent a chill through me as I thought about that leeches hands on my skin. Chances were, he was trying to trap me into saying something wrong but I racked my brains, trying to remember if I had seen him there.

"No you didn't" I replied, hating the shock that twisted my voice.

"I think you'll find I did. I arrived just before she grabbed Seth. You, in a tactically unsound and stupid move, tried to attack her, so I pulled you away before you got yourself killed."

And I remembered. The anger worming its way through me, my body responding on instinct and strong arms pulling me back. "Why would you do that? You were threatening to kill me the other day, why would you try to fucking save me?"

He stepped closer to me and I automatically stood, giving me more opportunity to fight back should it be warranted. He reached over, brushing a strand of hair off my face, and I moved away as though I had been scalded. His hand lingered in the empty air for a moment before he smiled and dropped it to his side. "I can't believe you thought I was serious the other day. I'm on strict orders not to kill any of you." He took a step back. "As for why I saved you, well, that's simple. I was protecting my interests."

"What the hell does that mean?"

He was already at the door but he threw another grin over his shoulder. Though it soon disappeared as he spoke. "It means, _Leah,_ that you interest me."

I stood there for a moment, dumb and stunned, looking for any sign that he was playing a sick joke on me but he seemed deadly serious. After a few moments, he left, leaving me rooted to the spot, with only one thought in my mind.

_Fuck._

************************************************

A fire blazes bright in the hearth but Beth appears to be looking straight past it. Mai notes her distant gaze with some concern. She moves a pile of thick woollen blankets from the sofa.

"Come sit down, Beth."

Beth shakes her head. "That vampire, the blond one, he was telling the truth when he said they didn't kill humans."

Mai sighs. "They lie, and even your senses are not infallible. Especially when it comes to their kind."

The girl turns her head, she regards Mai with a gaze that seems even more intense under the light of the fire. "I know. That's why I checked. Besides a few random cases, there have been no vampire attacks in Forks or the surrounding areas for a good few decades. Plenty of animals kills, enough to give PETA a heart attack, but no evidence that these people have been systematically killing humans for food."

"Where did you find that information?" Mai asks, though she doesn't stop picking and cleaning and fiddling with this, that and the other. Her actions are obviously an irritation to the girl.

"I googled it." She folds her arms, sets her jaw. She looks every bit as dangerous as Mai knows she can be and a chill runs up her spine.

"Did you know he lied to us?"

Another sigh. "He didn't lie."She adds a soft laugh in an attempt to diffuse the situation but Beth will not be deterred.

"He told us that all vampires were evil. That they are a danger to society. He said that they had to be stopped before they destroyed us all."

"And they do. Look what they did to Shane and Carla. Their whole family wiped out because of paranoia and fear. They do not distinguish between us so why should we distinguish between them? We are all the same to them, Beth. It doesn't matter if you are a werewolf, a cat, or someone like me. If you are different, gifted in a way that they are not, then you are a threat to them."

Beth's eyes narrow and Mai thinks it has something to do with her speech, until she notices that the girl is peering over her shoulder.

"There is mice in my bed."

She turns, startled by the voice behind her. Katie is standing in the doorway, her dark hair a tangled mess. There is a pillow crease on one side of smooth skin.

"Mice?" Mai asks. She knows by now that such creatures keep their distance from the two girls.

The younger girl nods, an exaggerated pout on her unusually pretty face. "Yes, they keep moving and waking me up."

Mai looks to Beth for clarification. "She means mites." The young girl answers. Katie looks past Mai, her gaze searching out Beth. "What should I do?"

"Turn your mattress over and go back to sleep." She replies. Katie opens her mouth to protest but Beth expression shifts into one that even Mai can read the meaning of. She will not brook intolerance, not now. And it is both strange, and admirable to see the control she exercises over her younger, wilder sister.

After the little one has gone, Mai returns to her chores but Beth's mind is still on the fight. "Katie and I exist as executers of justice. It's our duty to protect and defend humans, not to take part in some petty revenge scheme."

She unfolds her arms and stalks towards the door. Mai grasps her by the shoulder, loosing her grip as she feels muscle tense underneath her fingers. "You know how angry Shane can get, Beth. Please don't do anything foolish."

Her only reply is a long stare, and an almost instinctive feeling that things are about to get a whole lot worse.

************************************************


	11. Run

**Disclaimer:** Characters you recognise belong to Meyer. Characters you don't belong to me.

**A/N:** I just want to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who has supported and continues to support this fic. Thank you for taking the time to review, even if it seemed pretty likely that I was never going to update :-D I am sorry for the wait but it's only because I want to give you all the best story and chapters I have in me to give. No matter how long you have to wait, this story will be completed so don't ever worry that I'll lose interest and just give up on it. I know how much that sucks and I would never do it----with any of my stories.

Thank you to everybody who reviewed. I don't always have the time to reply, I hope you understand that, and I have to use what little free time I have to write, but just know that all your reviews, from the long ones to the short ones to the ones that simply say 'good job' or 'please update' are greatly appreciated :-D

* * *

**Run**

"Okay, so we need to compile all the information we have. Leah, did you and Bella find anything new while we were away?" Jasper asked, shifting through the mountains and mountains of research..

I shook my head. "Nothing that was really useful. We've been researching the lore on werewolves, trying to find a common thread in mythology. So far, silver bullets are out. They seem to do as much damage as they would to us, meaning not much at all."

"Our best bet so far seems to be fire and vampire venom," Bella added. "Only problem is that they're deadly---or at least damaging to us too. How about you, Jasper? Did you find _anything_?"

Her voice rose a little in desperation. I could understand that. This was the second time in a space of a few years that she had to watch someone threaten her husband and child. Maybe I couldn't empathise with her on the specifics, but after almost losing Seth, I could give her a bit of leeway on the dramatics.

"No, nothing that applies to the task at hand." He paused, sparing an indecipherable glance at me. His eyes flickered to Bella in an unanswered question. I looked over at her. While she still wasn't my favourite leech in the world, and we wouldn't be trawling the bars and drinking Mojito's together anytime soon, our endless, _painful,_ life draining weeks of researching together had battered down any real antagonism that had still existed between us.

I turned back to Jasper and nodded.

If he found my begrudging acceptance of the most annoying leech in the world who wasn't Edward, admirable—he didn't show it. Instead, he settled back into his seat in a gesture that reminded me of my Grandfather. I rolled my eyes. "We did find some new information."

Bella and I leaned forward slightly as he dragged it out. He seemed to enjoy keeping us on tenterhooks. I grumbled slightly to show him that I wasn't in the mood for epic storytelling. He smiled and chuckled to himself. "We came across a pack in Romania. A wolf pack. Shapeshifters, like yourselves." He added for clarity. He looked thoughtful for a moment, as though he was reconsidering sharing the information he had and my gut told me it wasn't going to be something I'd like.

"They operated slightly differently than your pack. They had different opinions—theories-- on some of the....concepts."

_Imprinting. _My heart pounded in my chest so hard I'm sure everyone in the room could hear it. I hate to say it, but the first thought that popped into my head was _Sam._ "You mean imprinting don't you?" I asked, softly, hating myself for the note of weak desperation in my voice. Bella picked up on it, she looked at me sadly, with such pity, and I despised her all over again.

To anyone who didn't know any better, Jasper's face was expressionless, but I'd been around him long enough that I could read between the lines. There was a note of tension in the way he held his jaw. A contrast of brightness in his eyes that showed his concern.

What would he tell me, what _could_ he tell me that would make him so concerned about my reaction? Part of me didn't want to know but another part needed these answers. I nodded slowly, knowing that he would take it as plea to continue.

A wave of subtle calm settled in my stomach as he continued. "The imprinting compulsion is the same, but they don't see it as the great love that your pack do. To them, it's a test of loyalty and willpower. To break their imprinting is to prove that the pack is their first priority. Their greatest priority. An imprint is believed to be detrimental to a pack member's ability to consider what will best benefit the pack. It's an obstacle that they believe must be overcome. So much so that imprinted pack members aren't eligible to patrol or fulfil their duties until it's broken."

Thoughts swirled around in my head. Well, just one thought to be exact but it was more painful and confusing than any other could be. "How many were there?"

"Thirteen, in total."

"And how many have broken their imprinting?"

"Six, so far."

I _knew_. I already knew but being the sick, masochist that I was, I just had to ask. "And how many imprinted?"

Jasper paused for a moment. He didn't want to tell me, it was easy to see that, but I knew he would. The warmth settled over me again, spreading through my limbs like butter. He waited until it took hold before he spoke. "Six----so far."

I couldn't swallow the strangled growl that bubbled up from my throat. Bella flinched instinctively but she wasn't the source of my rage. How could he do this to me? After all the promises? Six men at least, had fought....for themselves, for their pack...for everything that was most important to them. For the very thing that he had _lied_ and told me I was to him. It was all lies—their impossible bond, _unbreakable_. Lies, or complete evidence of their weakness, and all along I knew. I'd known how wrong they were but I'd trusted them. I had let them convince me otherwise. They made me believe there was no other option, that _I _was never an option.

They didn't fight for me. I could feel the calm, pulling at the edges, trying to claim me but all I could think was that none of them fought for me. Not Sam for our love. Or Emily for a bond that should have went deeper. Not my ancestors or my father or my _brothers_. There were men out there fighting for what they believed in, fighting almost impossible odds and they took that choice away from me.

And then came the hurt. I wasn't good enough for them. I never had been.

I looked over at Bella and Jasper. The leeches I'd been _made_ to hate and in that moment, I could see the truth. They were here, watching me with concern, with worry. They knew I could kill them within seconds and they still cared. And there I was, not even able to think about my heartbreak without my whole pack, my brothers, villifying me and casting me out and making me believe that I was just a sad, bitter shrew looking for baseless, unjustified revenge.

"Leah," Bella came up beside me, put a comforting hand on my shoulder. I couldn't even think about shrugging her off. I wanted to get away, I needed to get away. Everything had been a lie and I didn't know what to believe anymore. I had to leave, go somewhere quiet, figure things out.

I tore my arm from Bella's firm grip and I ran.

* * *

The soft click of Beth's bedroom door had woken her. Mai made her way into the dark living room. A low light bathed the room in a soft glow but it took her a few moments before her brain could process the scene before her. When it did, she hurried into the room and closed the door behind her, as quietly as she could.

"What are you doing?" she hissed.

Both girls looked up, unperturbed by her presence. They had known she would find them the minute they heard the pace of her breathing change. Katie smiled, a shadow of madness across her youthful features, but Beth's face remained blank. She buttonened Katie's coat with quick, steady fingers and Mai couldn't help but wonder how she remained so calm.

"We're running away," Katie whispered, a naughty grin on her pretty face, before she was shushed by the older girl. Beth's fingers stilled. She handed Katie a pair of thick, wollen gloves and rose to her feet. "We're leaving. We have no purpose here."

She grabbed her jacket. Mai reached out to stop her but with one swift movement, Beth was out of her grasp.

"Think about what you're doing." Mai pleaded. "We need you both here, to fight the vampires. If you leave, Shane won't tolerate it. He'll hunt you down. He'll have you killed."

"And he'll die trying!" Beth's anger disapated the moment the words left her lips but Mai could still see it simmering beneath the surface. She took a moment to think. She knew how unwise it was to push the younger girl.

"Are you so sure that you're willing to put your sister in danger? Have you thought about her in all of this?"

Katie glanced between them both. Her manic expression had become one of confused concern. She had picked up on her sister's anger if nothing else and it bothered her. Beth placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her. "Is it better for her to be used for his revenge? All she's ever known is misery and bloodshed. I've tried to show her a better way, and I'm not going to watch while he encourages her to kill those who don't deserve it."

Mai kneeled before Katie. "Tell her you don't want to go. You can choose, Katie. Even she can't stop you. We'll let Beth leave but you can stay. You can help fight the dead ones. You enjoy that, don't you?"

The girl bit her lip thoughfully. Beth watched from across the room, her expression unreadable. Katie didn't even glance over at her. Her eyes flickered to the wall behind Mai's head and she after a short pause, she nodded. "Yes, I like that very much."

Then she pulled her fur hood up around her face and slipped her hand into her sister's. Both girls looked back at Mai as they left. Katie peered back with a smile and Mai knew that she would miss the child. Beth's expression was less than sweet. The threat didn't need to be spoken. Mai could read it loud and clear. Go back to bed and pretend you didn't see us. _Or else._

* * *

I wasn't even sure how far I ran. I didn't even bother to phase. I ran and ran and I never looked back. I was still close to home, even my human senses could pick up on that, but I was far enough away that it would take anyone who bothered looking a while to find me and that was good enough.

For a few hours at least, I lay on the floor and watched the clouds float by. Even when it started to rain, I didn't move. Instead, I thought. I _remembered._ Sam, my father, my life---every memory moved behind my eyes as though it was new. So clear and sharp that the pain they bought with it could be nothing but fresh.

The rain barely touched me, heavy and fast---it lingered long enough to drench my skin and hair before it evaportated into a fine mist but I couldn't feel it. I couldn't feel anything enough to care. Maybe that sounded whiny but that's not how I felt. Power like I'd never felt before thrummed through my body. Yeah, it hurt like hell but I felt free. More alive than I ever had. Now I had the answers, I could stop feeling so afraid. As much as they hurt me right now, Sam and Emily would fade. I was right. They had betrayed me, and knowing that they had a choice made it easier for me to hate them for it. No one could argue that I had no right to feel the way I did. Not now that there was proof, six pieces of evidence that justified every tear, every scathing remark directed their way and at the people who supported their selfishness.

I thought of all the imprint couples. At least a small portion of their faith was about to be destroyed by the very thing that made them feel so alive. How would they react to the news that they didn't have all the answers...that to some, they very thing that made them feel so strong made them weak? If I didn't know for sure, I had an idea. Sam would remain steadfastly self righteous. Quil would be heartbroken. Jacob would-----

"You'll catch your death out here."

I sat up with a start, senses flaring as I tried to pinpoint the direction that the voice was coming from. At the moment, it was a distant echo but with his speed, it wouldn't take long for him to get here. I considered running but I knew he'd give chase. Probably make his day. Instead, I flopped back onto the ground, closed my eyes and sighed. "I came here to be alone." I clenched my jaw against the new smell that flooded my nostrils.

The trees rustled. "Too much alone time is never healthy for a girl such as yourself."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" My voice took on a edge but my eyes remain closed. He was a man who loved the chase, I knew that much. He got a kick out of getting reactions so I'd decided not to give him any.

"You know, prone to moping, over emotional, internalises everything."

Indignation flared. My head told me to ignore the accusation, to not let him bait me. But then, _sometimes you just gotta give people what they want._


	12. Snap

**Disclaimer:** Characters you recognise belong to Meyer. Characters you don't belong to me.

**A/N:** Okay, here's a little treat. I'm giving you a double whammy tonight as an apology for making you all wait so long. Enjoy :-D

* * *

** Snap  
**  
I blinked rain out of my eyes as I rounded on the leech. He matched me, step for step and we moved in circles, in a dance that only a born hunter would recognise. "Who the hell do you think you are, _leech_?" I spat. "Coming to my town, insulting me?"

He stopped still and folded his arms across his thick chest. The action snapped me back to reality a little. He had at least a hundred and fifty pounds of solid marble on me, and as furious and determined as I was to kick his ass, I wasn't planning on getting myself killed. Not today, anyway.

He smiled a wicked grin that made me want to phase and fly for his throat. "See, this is what I mean. You need to learn to relax, _Leah_. Stop taking everything so seriously."

"Stop that!" I snapped. He looked genuinely confused as he tried to figure out what I was talking about.

My face shifted into sneer. "Stop saying my name. You make it sound so----"

"Delicious?" His grin was even broader now.

Uh no. Definitely not delicious. _Creep_. I paused for a moment, searching for the right word. I thought about how he curled the vowels, drew them out in a low voice. I thought about how I wanted to vomit everytime he spoke it. "Dirty," I decided. "You make it sound wrong. Bad."

"It doesn't feel wrong or bad to me." He said, his eyes twinkling with something I absolutely refused to pay attention to. He laughed quietly to himself and tipped his head, lost in his own thoughts. "But dirty I could live with."

In that moment, a flip switched. He ceased to exist as a dirty, disgusting leech. Instead, he became a perfect, unbreakable target for me to take my anger out on. I forgot that he was bigger than me, stronger than me. I even forgot that I wasn't in the mood for dying today. My only thought was to wipe that smug grin of his face. My fist flew towards his face before I could think about what it would mean for me and within seconds, we were scrapping.

He met my furious screams with laughter. With each hit I landed, his grin just got wider. And I got angrier. He was better than me at this, and it wasn't until I was face first in the dirt that I remembered he'd had hundreds of years of practice. I tried to swipe his legs from under him, he stepped back. I hit out as quick as I could, he feinted. He knew every step before I made it and I hated him for it. I hated him more than I ever hated anything. I hated him more than I hated Sam, and Emily. And that was a lot.

He grabbed my wrists and pulled me to my feet, holding me there, my legs dangling blindly. I felt the familiar white hot heat working up through my stomach, into my limbs. His eyes widened slighty and I felt a kick of satisfaction as the heat burst out of me. He dropped me, throwing me back, and for a split second he stood there like an idiot, grasping handfuls of my fur. My growl echoed around us. I knew he wouldn't run but that was perfectly fine by me. That's not what I wanted.

His expression changed, the slightest flicker of wariness gone as quickly as it appeared. He rolled his eyes and sighed, opening his palms and holding his hands up. I watched my tufts of fur as the floated to the ground, grey whisp being carried away by the wind and I felt envious. _Of my fur._ Yep, I was in serious trouble, mentally. The rage seeped out of me and I put my head between my paws and let out a soft whine. As much as I might want to, I knew I couldn't kill him. Not when everyone was just waiting for me to fall apart and snap. I wouldn't give them that satisfaction.

I phased into a crumpled heap on the floor. A _naked_ crumpled heap but I was far too weary to consider that too much. I kneeled on the ground, gripping dirt. Trying and failing to catch my breath. Felix stood over me and held out a hand. I took it, only because I knew I shouldn't, and let him pull me to my feet. He stood back, still gripping my hand, and it took me a moment to realise that he was taking in the view. I socked him as hard as I could and he let out a boom of laughter.

"God, this is a weird one," he huffed. "Besides the smell, everything about you is still human to me...and I'm not that used to humans going at me like a hell cat. It's quite....fascinating."

"Get over it. I hate you!," I said, spitting blood. I wasn't too concerned. I'd come out of it better than I expected and I could feel the internal injuries beginning to heal. The wet rasping in my lungs had settled into a low rattle and my breathing was becoming easier. I touched my fingers to a large gash on my face. The blood was cooling slighty as the wound began to close. Felix watched, captivated as my skin stitched itself back together.

"Does it hurt?" he asked, his voice low. He seemed slightly dazed at the sight.

"Like a bitch." I answered, looking around for something I could use as a makeshift cover. He noticed my predicament and shrugged of his coat. Thick wool. Italian, more than likely designer. Probably coast a couple of thousand dollars too. I wiped my bloody nose with it and threw it around my shoulders. I swear I saw him wince.

I made my way through the trees, towards the lake. I intended to clean off but by the time I got there, I was too beat to do anything but sit on my rock and watch the sun that set just for _me_. Hey, we all have our fantasies. Felix took up the stone beside me, the one Rosalie tended to perch on whenever we came out here. Though unlike Rose, he insisted on speaking.

"You like this?" He asked, gesturing at the red and orange horizon.

I sighed. A deep, old sigh. The world is on my shoulders kinda sigh. "Yeah, it's pretty. _Calming_," I added as an afterthought and I smiled to myself as an image of Jasper popped into my mind. Felix grimaced and I rolled my eyes. "You have a problem with the sun now?"

He smiled at my sarcasm. "After a couple of hundred years of sunsets, the appeal begins to fade. When you've seen one _'epitome of true beauty'_, you've seen them all."

"So you don't find beauty in anything? How sad." I sneered. I didn't really find it sad at all. If anything, I found it just.

He smile faded, replaced by something not quite malicious but just as intense. "I didn't say that." He said, his voice almost a purr. "Something extraordinary----rare. Power that can't really be classified or explained. A abberation so strong and pure, that it becomes more than anyone ever expected. That's what I consider truly beautiful."

Right. Weirdo. "You know, I liked it better when I didn't know you existed."

I jumped at his unexpected bark of laughter. "I almost agree with you on that. Almost," he added after a split second pause.

And there we sat. Two sworn, mortal enemies, watching the sunset. It would be a lie to say I enjoyed his company because he was still the _biggest douche I'd ever met in my entire life_ but it still felt good. It felt like one big middle finger to everybody that had ever tried to tell me what to do and who to be friends with and who to stop loving and who to still care about. It felt like I was taking a stand and that dulled the pain a little until I could almost pretend I no longer felt it.

_Almost._


	13. Change

**Disclaimer:** Characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. Characters you don't recognise belong to me.

**A/N: **Okay, I'm on a roll with this tonight but this is more than likely gonna be the last one for today.

* * *

**Change**

I didn't return home until next morning. I'd fallen asleep on the ground and now I was stumbling back to the Cullen's house looking like I'd fallen asleep on the ground. By the time I'd woken, Felix had gone and I was kicking myself for letting my guard down around a leech, especially one who'd managed to kick my ass without breaking a metaphorical sweat.

Seth rounded on me as soon as I opened the door. "Did you go to see Sam?" he asked, a heavy note of accusation in his voice. I wondered why the hell he was asking me that for a moment and then I realised. Jasper or Bella must have told him about the imprinting. _Shit. _

It's not that I was too troubled about my pack brothers finding out the truth, they deserved to know as much as anyobdy, but I was _not_ in the mood to deal with a bunch of broken hearted werewolves. Not today, and to be honest, I was pretty offended that they would automatically think I'd run off to Sam, begging. Especially since I had considered that option.

"No. And you should know me better than that." I replied. Seth nodded, looking a little guilty and I felt a heavy helping of it myself but there was no way I was going to let him know how close to home his accusation really was. Not now that I'd gotten past that impulse. "Do the others know?"

He nodded. "Everyone does. Jasper told them when he filled them in on what information they'd found. Sam's pack know too."

I kept my face as calm and passive as I could. My heart continued to beat at a steady pace with great effort required on my part. "How are they handling it?" There. Nothing in my voice that couldn't be passed off as anything but concern for all my pack brothers.

"Jacob's been pretty quiet. Quil is really upset and Embry called that girl who gave him her number on friday. I don't know about Jared and Paul but Sam thinks the Romanian pack's theory must be wrong."

Ha, self righetous indignition. _Called it_. "He would." I said, inserting enough amusment into my voice that the bitterness didn't seem so strong. And then I looked at my brother and remembered that the others weren't the only one who either gained or lost something in the space of a day. "And you? How are you?"

Seth shrugged and smiled. "I never thought imprinting was all that wonderful anyway. Not after seeing what happened with you and Sam and Emily. It just ruined everything. I mean, if it happened, then yeah, I would have been happy but that's because you don't really have a choice, do you?"

"Now you do." I grabbed his wrist and walked him over to the sofa. "After all this is over, I going to Romania and I'm going to find out how they did it--- but I want you to know that if it ever happens to you and you can't fight it, nothing's going to change. I won't think any less of you. I just want you to be happy. Not because some girl you don't even know wants you to be happy but because you enjoy life. If you decide that you're happiest being imprinted, then I'll be happy for you. And if not, then I'm going to find a way for you to get out of it, for all of us to get out of it, and you won't ever have to worry about calling that girl you've had a crush on since you were ten years old."

Heat flooded his cheeks and I could see a thousand denials rushing to his lips. I cut them off with a laugh. "What, you thought I didn't know? I do actually pay attention sometimes, Seth. Mila Hollis? I went to school with her sister."

He muttered something under his breath and shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I'm not going to do anything yet. Not until I know for sure how to break it."

"I know you won't. Because you're a good guy, Seth. You're more honest and caring than anyone I've ever known and that's why I don't think you have to worry about it. You know all that schmoozy, flowery crap you do that we all give you hell for?"

He rolled his eyes.

"Well, that's your greatest strength. Just don't forget that and you'll be fine." I squeezed his shoulder and stood up. "Come on, let's go check out the damage."

* * *

Quil was in a bad way, a really bad way, but it was Jacob who was worrying me most. It's was proving almost impossible to draw him into a converstation that he didn't answer with robotic yes and no's.

"Are you okay?" _Yes_

"Need anything?" _No_

"Hey, do you think I look like I've been sleeping on the ground all night?" _Yes_. Bastard.

After ten minutes, I gave up. I made sure he had enough to eat, courtesty of Esme, and told him to call if he needed to talk. I was about to walk out the door when he spoke, so low that without my superior hearing, I would have missed it.

"I wanted to kill her, Leah. I was going to do it. I hated her for what she did to Bella and I was going to kill her for it. Only the imprinting stopped me." He stared at the rug in front of him but his gaze was distant. "What happens if I break it? What if I go back to loving Bella and hating Nessie?"

I told him the only thing I was sure of. "I don't know. Maybe it will hurt like hell for a while but maybe that's what you need. I mean, can't you see how weird it was? One day you're hopelessly in love with Bella to the point of desperation and then the next you're fine with everything? Maybe imprinting didn't get rid of your feelings, it just covered them up....and I think we both know how badly that can turn out. The difference is that you have a choice now, Jake. You can choose to keep it or break it, but whatever you decide, it's going to be something that you want."

He looked up a me, eyes blazing. "At the cost of my pack? What kind of choice is that, Leah?"

"_Yours._"

And then I left.

* * *

I took longer than I needed showering the dirt and crap off. This was the one place that I knew I wouldn't be disturbed and it was easy enough to just forget everything and focus on nothing but the heavy stream of water pounding down on my back.

Afterwards, I stood in front of Rosalie's floor length mirror, buff naked, and just looked at myself. The cuts from my fight with Felix had long healed but his hits had been strong enough that I could still see slight markings on my skin from where they had landed. Fading, but not quick enough for my liking. I took a good look at myself. My hair was longer than I usually kept it, mainly because cutting it was the last thing on my mind right now. It was so straggled and worn that I wanted to rake it from head. People used to call me beautiful but I'd heard the whispers after I'd changed. _What has she done to herself? She used to be so pretty_. The worst thing was that I couldn't blame them. All the bitterness and tiredness had shown on the outside. It was still there, in the dark circles that had become an almost permanent feature on my face to the messy growth of my shorn hair.

I looked like a leech. Cold, hard and broken, but there was a difference. A slight difference but it was there nonetheless. Something that I hadn't seen in a long time, something that had been taken away from me by Sam and Emily, and fate and life. There was a _fire_ in my eyes. A determination. Strength I thought I'd lost. It had come back to me, stronger...more powerful. Felix was right. I was one of a kind. Even among an entire room of supernatural creatures, there was no one like me. And there hadn't been for over 350 years. I was special. Rarer than Renesmee or imprinting or anything else here....and I felt shame for letting myself be ruined so easily.

I _was_ an abberation, a heavy dose of chaos breaking up the norm and it was about time that I started acting like it. I looked at myself in the mirror. _Damn_, I'd missed that smile.


	14. New

**Disclaimer**: Characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

**A/N:** This is a long one because it was originally supposed to be two chapters (I ran out of steam at the end) but I wanted to get something up in an attempt to ward of the writers block.

**New**

I marched into the sitting room where I'd left Jacob about an hour ago. He was still moping and staring at the floor with that blank expression, except now he was holding one of Renesmee's antique dolls. I snatched it out of his hands and snapped it's head off.

"Okay Black. You wann know what you're going to do?"

He registered the broken doll with a complete look of horror but I seriously couldn't give a shit. "You're going to break this goddammed imprint. Every last one of you is because I refuse to be part of a pack made up of overemotional pussies controlled by three year olds."

I paced, part to clear my head and partly to stay moving so it would be harder for him to attack. "If you and Quil want to play babysitter after that, fine but it'll be because you want to have a creepy obsession with the color pink and barbie dolls, not because you have to."

He took my pause as an opportunity to jump in. "But---,"

"No," I said firmly. No buts. No more excuses. I'm done. I'm not going to sit here and watch you sacrifice each other for love. I'm not going to take that chance. I won't do it."

I could see the emotion, the turmoil, play across his features and in that moment, I was sure. Those Romanian guys were right. Deep in my gut, I knew it. Nothing real, nothing true would need a hold this strong. It wasn't right. I'll admit to feeling a little disappointed at this grand realisation. I mean, the concept of imprinting was nice. Who wouldn't want to find someone who would love you despite everything? But that wasn't imprinting. There was no willing acceptance of each others flaws, no determination to make it through the bad parts. At best it was an illusion.

And I couldn't envy Emily for that anymore. I couldn't respect Sam for giving everything we had. Not for something so hollow. I softened my approach because knowing something was easy. Actually doing something about it was a lot tougher. Jacob knew what he had to do, he just had no idea of how to actually do it.

I knelt in front of him and took his hands in my own. He looked so young and lost, a world away from the Alpha he should be and it only made me more determined to help him out of this. We'd all given so much and it was only fair that we were allowed the choice that everyone but us seemed to get. "Let Sam's pack do what they want from now on. Let them live happily ever after and watch each other bleed for the sake of their love but we can be better than that. This Pack is better than that. We all deserve more."

He nodded. "I know," He said, his voice rough and broken. "I know I have to do it, we have to do it."

I sat beside him and put my arms around him. These boys were the only real friends I had left. And yeah, they'd made mistakes and treated me like crap but they were my family, more than any of the others had ever been and we were all in this together now.

* * *

I woke early morning to a soft tapping at Rosalie's door. Renesmee stood outside holding her broken doll, her expression both sad and confused.

"I'll buy you a new one," I snapped and slammed the door in her face but I couldn't get back to sleep. Call me crazy, in fact, call me a psyhcotic fucking nutjob, but I felt bad. I just didn't have it in me to bitch out children. Even creepy ass, doll looking, I write essays on the current economic climate in China for fun kinda children. It just wasn't me.

So after a lot of huffing and puffing and a heavy attempt at denial, I begrugingly pulled my ass out of bed and went to find Loch Ness. She was sitting in the living room watching as one cartoon character tried to kill another. Probably picking up tips for her next mealtime.

"Thought this was mindless entertainment, designed purely to excite the volatile human fascination with violence?" I said in my best attempt at creepy doll voice.

She smiled softly, faint dimples showing in her porcelain cheeks. "Sometimes, that's just what you need."

I nodded in reply, secretly wondering if she was picking up tips to use against me. Not that I couldn't kick her ass but I'd prefer not to be the one who killed Princess Cullen. "Sorry I broke your toy."

"It was Amelia."

I snorted."Oh, that creepy looking doll you named after me?"

Her face fell. She looked set to apologise or cry or something but I laughed and waved her worry away. "I was never one for dolls. Fairytales were my thing. Did Jacob ever tell you about that time we built a castle in our backyard?"

She shook her head, features looking slightly more animated as she shuffled over to sit closer to me. "We used salt as fairy dust. Rachel, Rebecca and I were Princesses and Jacob was our pet dragon and we were on a mission to rescue the baby prince, that was Seth, from the evil witch."

"Who was the evil witch?"

"My mom."

She looked horrified and I bit back a laugh. "Of course, she didn't really know that. She was busy washing dishes or something."

Renesmee smiled softly. "I wasn't aware that you'd known Jacob that long."

"Oh yeah," I said, smiling at the memories. "The Rez isn't really that big. A lot of us used to play together. Quil would come over because him and Jake are cousins. Sam and his mom would make the rounds---staying on couches---whenever her and Josh, his dad, had an argument. Even Jared would come play sometimes."

"Sam?" she asked then bit her lip regretfully. I smiled.

"Yeah. We even got married once. I was nine and he was ten. We were gonna run away and live on a mountain but my mom wouldn't let us leave the backyard. We had some fun."

"Then Emily came along." Her voice took on a bitter note that surprised me. She seemed to notice because she rushed into an explanation. "I don't understand how she could do it. Knowing that you and Sam had so much history, so much love together. It was so horrible of her to take that away from you."

And there it was. The words that I had been waiting for for nearly three years. From the mouth of a girl that I considered barely human. Tears sprang to my eyes and I said the words that I had been so desperate to say out loud but had never been allowed to. "Yeah. It was."

Renesmee smiled and inched closer. She tipped her head onto my shoulder, tenatively, as though still wary that I might snap at her or tell her to get the fuck away from me like I had last time. I paused for a moment, an instinctive tension coiling in my stomach, and then I saw Emily's face and remembered how the last person I'd loved and thought I could trust, had betrayed I was wrong about this one after all. I rested my head on top of hers, burying my face in her curls. It was hard for me to remember every being so young, so innocent.

We stayed there for another hour until she fell asleep on my shoulder. I was carrying her up to bed, as gently as I could manage. With my strength she was pretty lightweight. Bella met us on the stairs, her shocked expression turning into a frown. This time I understood but I wasn't going to apologise for it. If she wanted to hash it it, she could come to me. Or better yet, talk to her daughter.

* * *

After tucking Nessie in, I decided to try get some sleep. I had a busy day planned for tomorrow and I wanted to start the rest of my life refreshed, and I don't mean looking like a person who recently died kinda fresh. I made my way back to Rosalie's room, trying to still my mind and I was just about de-wiring my brain when I got to the room. I was even looking forward to the oblivion of sleep.

No such luck.

Felix was laying on Rosalie's bed which at present moment was my bed. He was watching some trashy Korean soap opera on the big screen that Rose and Emmet probably used to watch porn or something.

"What are you doing here?" I asked while silently screaming Go away. Please go away.

He shrugged. "It was either keep you company or listen to Jane getting all poetic about the beheading of Anne Boleyn. She gets oddly emotional about it."

Oh wow really. Yeah, I didn't care. I just stood there staring at him. Hoping that he would quickly realise my mental attempts to painfully flay him with the intensity of my hatred. He remained oblivious. Though he did sit up and say; "Leah, I thought we'd worked this out already."

I shook my head over and over again. That's how dumbfounded I was that I was in this very situation. I actually for once in my life did not know what to say. Every slur, every argument, every variation of verbal bitchslap that I knew---none of them seemed able to deter this leech. He just kept cropping up, like one of those garden weeds that choke all the others and it doesn't matter how many pesticides you use on them, they just never go away. This leech was a weed in my garden and I had no idea of how to get rid of him.

"Can you at least leave long enough for me to get some sleep? I have a busy day tomorrow."

He grinned---shit-eating grin #4--- and raised his eyebrows. "Really? Doing what?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes in a double deluxe whammy of sheer impatience that would send any normal man, wolf or leech running out of the room. "I'm going to attempt to make a Pack out of the four teenage boys and one bitter bitch that are currently in charge of defending and protecting humanity from bloodsucking sons of bitches like you."

"Wouldn't have anything to do with you trying to prove that you're better than your ex-boyfriend?"

How the fuck did he know about that? "How the fuck do you know about all that?" I said.

He shrugged. "It gets boring waiting for the war to begin. And your Cullen family love to gossip."

Now I was pissed. "Firstly, they're not my family. Secondly, only a complete fruitcake would be complaining that nobody has tried to slaughter us all yet. And thirdly; what happens, will happen or has happened in my life is none of your bloodsucking business."

Another shrug. "If you want to prove that you are above him and his orders, there are better ways to do so, Leah." He said, his voice taking on a low, smoky quality. I shivered.

"Yuck! Don't ever suggest that to me again unless you have some actual way of safely scrubbing my brain clean, you pig."

He chuckled. "I thought women these days had less restrictions. Don't tell me your a puritan."

"Uh, no. I just make it a rule never to sleep with my mortal enemies. Especially ones who bathe in the blood of virgins or whatever."

He didn't answer. Just shook his head and sighed. Like he was the one so hard done to. Truth is he didn't have an answer. My accusation may be painful but it was a hundred percent true. He was a killer. A killer of innocents. And so it was my duty to hate him as much as I could. He refused to leave but I was past giving a shit. Instead, I made my way to the woods, phased and slept huddled in a bush somewhere.

I started the first day of the rest of my life as a huge, hairy beast---sleeping on the ground. Nothing new there. The I remembered Renesmee's words and that today, I'd found at least one person---half person---who understood. Maybe it kinda was.


	15. Plans

**Disclaimer:**Characters you recognise belong to Meyer. Characters you don't, belong to me

* * *

**Plans**

Changing was one thing. The little details that go into making a change happen are an entirely different thing altogether. Take shapeshifting for example. It may seem quick, even to the human eye but the process is a lot more complex than that. It starts in the gut, growing and twisting until it infects every part of the body. If we were to slow it down, the pain would probably more than any of us could handle. Maybe that's why it happened so quickly? Either way, I wasn't complaining.

Renesmee scanned the laptop screen in front of her. She clicked a button and the printer started up a shrill whine from across the room. She walked over to it and grabbed the first sheet. "Here's one. Tantric meditation."

I snatched the sheet from her hands and prayed that it didn't have diagrams. "I think we should just stay away from everything with the word tantric in it, okay?"

She looked up at me with wide, innocent eyes. "Why?"

I considered filling her in on the why. It would be pretty funny trying to see Bella, or Edward, explaining that one but instead I sighed. "I'll tell you when you're older."

She rolled her eyes and turned back to the computer and started muttering titles and information while I tried to sort through what we'd collected so far. I was beginning to feel pretty relieved that I'd asked Ness to help me. I hadn't realised just how much information was out there.

I didn't know how I was going to change things; myself or the Pack, but I did know that it needed to happen. We were hanging on by a thread, scrambling our way towards some sembalance of a united front and it just wasn't good enough. The Pack was more than just our duty, it was our legacy. As warriors, we should be strong but as a unit, we needed to be unstoppable.

But where to start? That was the question.

Papers were beginning to pile up around me. I'd scoured the Quileute resources for anything that may help me whip the Pack into shape but sorting through everything was proving to be more difficult than actually collecting the info.

Nessie picked up my notebook and began flicking through it. Kid was getting pretty ballsy around me. I was almost proud. She grimaced. "I don't think the boys are going to like these new rules you've devised for them."

"Tough. They'll thank me when they're _operating at maximum efficency_" I was totally quoting a magazine article but Nessie didn't seem to pick up on it.

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," I said, even though I wasn't.

* * *

It took me a few more days to sort through everything and put it in some sort of order. Every waking hour was spent forming plans, revising tactics; beating my brains out. I managed to condensed work that should have taken me a good few weeks at least, into a few days worth of research and planning but we didn't have time to spare.

Between almost losing Seth and my fight with Felix, I was now well aware that if this whole business with The Order came down to a war, our chances were not good. As individuals, we were uneducated, unpolished and untrained. As a Pack, we were messy and disorganised. And one of us had to do something to change that. _Fast_.

"Diet plans. Fitness regimes?" Quil asked, flicking through the folder that I'd stuffed with carefully compiled, and beautifully presented, if I may say so myself, pages detailing a plan of action.

I smirked. I knew that wouldn't go down to well. "Yes, read em and weep, boys. All that stodgy crap is slowing us down. A few fruits and veggies won't kill you."

Embry threw his folder down in disgust. "Forget it. I'm not eating that shit."

I picked it up off the floor and whacked him around the head with it. He grabbed for my hand but quickly let go when he remembered that I outranked him. With a glare for good measure, I shoved the folder back into his hands. "You will not only eat it, you will enjoy it or so help me, I will shove the biggest, nastiest vegetable I can find into every open orfice on your body. Understand?"

He grumbled. I took that for a yes.

"Okay, here's the deal. We can't carry on the way we are. We have to be not only ready to fight, but able to. We might be able to take down a few vampires but sooner or later, our luck is going to run out. We're going to come across something bigger and stronger than us and right now, we're in no position to fight it."

They stared at me iwithrapt attention and I knew they were really listening to me. I knew I was getting through to them and that feeling was beyond anything I'd ever experience. I felt like I was making a difference. I felt like a leader.

"Hell, we couldn't even take on Sam's Pack because they outnumber us. What if that was leeches?" I gave that a moment to sink in before I continued. "We have to be strong enough to overcome those sorts of odds or at least stand a chance against them."

Embry shook his head but his stubborness had seemed to wane a little. "What do you think about this?" he asked Jacob and I kicked myself. While Sam's pack did outnumber us and outrank us; in terms of experienced leadership and tactical planning, our sole advantage was that we had the natural Alpha in his natural position. I'd asserted my authority and disregarded Jacob's and even something as minor as this would dent his authority on an unconscious level. That was exactly what I was trying to change.

"Jacob knew I was planning something," I added quickly. "Besides, this isn't an order. It's a proposal. The final say is up to him."

Jacob wasn't buying my story for a second but he nodded. "Leah's right. With everything that's been happening lately---," His eyes flickered to the floor but not before I saw a flash of shame.

I shook my head, letting him know that he didn't have to do this. This Pack needed a leader and that was him. It was always going to be him. Whatever human emotions, whatever weakness he showed, well, that would always be between the two of us. It was my duty to shoulder the doubts and give advice and secretly take the weight of responsibility when he felt he couldn't handle it anymore. It was my job to keep him looking strong, even when he wasn't.

I tried to let him know that with one brief, silent gaze and maybe I got through because he nodded and stood up, still clasping his folder. "Leah is your Beta and I've given her full authority to do whatever she sees fit to help make this Pack better. Do whatever she says," he said in a voice more strong and intelligent than I would have ever given him credit for.

I smiled at his words. Do whatever she says, indeed. I could get used to that.

* * *

I felt good. The kinda feeling you get when you spring clean your room or sort through your closet. I felt like all my hard work had been productive, like a postive change had been made.

Though when you set your hopes so high, it's easy to find something to ruin your day.

"Sam," I folded my arms and clenched my jaw so he could see that I was pissed. I was done hiding my feelings so he could live out his grim fairytale in peace. He looked a little confused at my attitude.

"Uh, hey. What are you doing here?" We were standing outside the grocery store, where Sam had decided to intrude on my good mood.

"Picking up supplies, for the guys."

He glanced at my basket, stuffed with fruit and vegetables. "Uh, really?"

"Yes," I replied, tersley. Seemed to be that whenever anything was going right for me, he decided to show his face again. "Since we're single handedly fighting a war, we've decided to pay a little more attention to nourishing our greatest weapons." I left the vampires involvement out for effect.

Sam sighed. "I told Jacob we'd help in whatever way we can."

"Yeah, any way that doesn't actually involve you doing anything."

That pissed him off. "Do you know how stupid this whole thing is? Jacob is going to get you all killed to protect his imprint."

I rolled my eyes and gave him my best sneer. I gave him the kinda sneer I saved for douchebags like Felix, or that creepy little girl vampire that hissed at me everytime I walked past her. "Like you wouldn't do the same for yours."

He moved to say something then shut right up when he realised it was true. Love before duty and all that shit.

"Leah----," Another stupid sigh.

"So, did Jacob tell you about what we found; our research?" I smiled my best Cheshire cat grin. My collection of facial expressions had expanded since I was basically forced to STFU and keep my feelings to myself.

Sam suddenly found something interesting on the floor. "It's impossible. An imprint can't be broken."

My heart sank a little. Knowing how he felt was one thing but hearing it straight from the horse's mouth hurt like fucking hell. "Oh shove it up your ass. There are six men who've already proved you wrong."

His eyes widened. I'd never been so cold or cutting with him before, even when he first broke my heart. He began to sputter a reply but I wasn't interested in hearing it. "You can't deny it anymore. It can be broken, it always could. You just didn't want to break it."

_Tell me I'm wrong, tell me I'm wrong,_ I chanted in my head. Sam didn't say anything. A long moment of silence passed between us. I stared at him pointedly, just daring him to try and feed me some more bullshit.

"Leah, I know you're angry at me but don't let that cloud your judgement. This isn't a game. Those leeches the Cullens have staying are cold blooded killers. If Jacob wants to fight, I can't stop him but don't let him drag the rest of you down with him." He put a hand on my shoulder and gave me a soft look. I considered biting the offending paw right off but managed to control myself.

"Jacob is one million times the alpha you were or will ever be," I said in a voice that suggested I might be sleeping with him, and judging by the look on Sam's face, my arrow had hit its mark. "And yes, the Volturi might be cold blooded, immoral, evil scumbags, but hey, at least they're honest about what they are.....unlike some people." I picked up the first thing I saw, a mango, with great flourish and dropped it into my basket and with a snort and an "enjoy your life with Two Face, and stay out of mine forever," I was gone.

That I managed to make it to the counter and out of the store without smashing my mango repeatedly into Sam's face was a miracle. Maybe I was getting better at this anger management stuff after all.

* * *

My run in with Sam left me feeling restless. In the space of finding out that he was a willing asshole instead of a forced asshole, I'd gone from wanting him back to wanting to kill him.

And by noon, I was ready to kill anyone who so much as looked at me. After offending Marcus, not an easy task, let me tell you that, and actually being threated with death by Jacob, I decided to say 'fuck you' to everything. I was moving out. Let them struggle without me.

I'd go live in the was quiet, peaceful, perfect; being one with nature wouldn't be so difficult, it was in my blood after all. I stole a tent off the Cullens, packed my bag and set off to find my new home.


	16. Alone

**Disclaimer:** Characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I am not making any profit off this fic.

**A/N: **A shorter one than last time but I really wanted to get this up and kick the whole next phase off. You'll see what I mean at the end ;-) Enjoy.

**Alone**

All those people in the world who bitch about being lonely should try being me once in a while. All I wanted was to be alone but that was a message that seemed to be beyond most people.

"Hello, sweetheart," Felix said, sauntering into view. I considered snarling at him but he'd probably find that a turn on, so I blanked him instead. He raised his eyebrow at my little portable radio and inflatable bed and shook his head.

"Not talking today?" he asked, grinning already. If I had killed as many people or caused as much misery as he had, then I probably would never smile again and yet, that's all he ever seemed to do.

I made a show of ignoring them but he sat down beside me anyway. I hated, hated, hated him.

It was night time and I was already getting fed up of sleeping out here but I'd be damned if I was going back. Not just yet anyway. Let them stew a little longer, disrespectful assholes. My little campfire burned and fizzled so I threw a few more dry twigs on top of it.

I'd painstakingly cut the front of the tent off with a pocket knife, purely so I would have room to move if I was attacked in the middle of the night but now I was beginning to wish that I'd left it as it was; easy to zip up and keep intruders out.

Besides the company, it was still pretty peaceful. Crickets chirped along with the static on my stupid, half assed radio, the fire flickered and warmed everything within a short radius. Felix nudged me. His wool coat felt soft against my bare arm. "That's an old one," he said, nodding towards the radio.

"The radio or the song?"

He laughed; a big bellowing laugh at something that really wasn't that funny. "Both, but the song is a little older. Late forties, if I recall correctly."

I shrugged. "I like the Grease version better."

He shook his head. "No, this song is best performed slow."

I would have expected him to say something like that in his best perverted Barry White voice but he seemed serious. "I saw Billie Holiday perform it once. The great Lady Day," he roared with a smile. "Now that was a woman who could move a crowd."

I couldn't help but smile at his sentimentality. He nodded to himself and grinned. "I would of given my left arm to have a taste of that."

Fucking disgusting leech. I rememebered exactly why I hated him. There was nothing there. No apologies for what he was, what he had done. No remorse or consideration for the lives he had ended.

"Don't you ever think about them, the people you've killed?" I asked. I couldn't keep the judgement and disgust out of my voice but then, I wasn't really trying to. He didn't seem bothered either way.

He shrugged. "Do you think about what you ate for dinner last night?"

"Yes," I said. I actually thought about my food a lot. In fact, I was still thinking about that deer I took down a few days ago. I thought about the terror that tinged her blood as she struggled to get free. I thought about her swollen belly, full of milk that her children would never get. I thought about them waiting at home for their mother, their protector, to show.

His expression turned serious. "Thinking about it too much will drive you insane. Be rational. Don't let your emotions run away with you and remember what they really are. They're prey. Don't think any deeper or further than that."

I looked in his eyes, a warm rich brown now, and decided that I was never going to be like him. Not in a hundred years, not in a million. I had already lost too much to this curse. If remembering was the cost of keeping my soul, then I'd remember all of them, no matter how big or small, until my dying day.

I was too---disturbed to speak. I wanted to pretty much forget that he existed by that point. We sat in silence for a few moments.

"I remember some who seemed a particular waste," he said. I turned to look at him but he was staring out at across the lake. His expression wasn't sad as much as it was wistful. He seemed almost nostalgic and it surprised me to think of a vampire being weary and feeling out of place.

"Then why did you kill them?" I asked.

His mouth tightened into a thin line. "All it takes is one drop of venom for the change to start and not all transformations are as easy, or painless, as Bella's." He said with surprising bitterness. I wondered if he was remembering his own change. He shrugged. "It seemed more merciful to finish it."

Well, that's one thing we could agree on at least.

"So you, your...change. How does it happen?" he asked. His eyes roved my body, as though the answer may be there but there was nothing sexual in his gaze so I let him get away with it.

I shrugged. "Dunno. It just happened one day. I started feeling a little sick, like I had a fever. I felt like something was crawling underneath my skin, building up inside of me. Then one day, I just exploded."

He nodded, seemingly satisfied with that answer. "Did it hurt?"

"Not the transformation. The build up did, I felt like I'd been steamrolled for a little while but once I phased there was no pain. Not physical pain anyway." I muttered.

He raised an eyebrow and nodded for me to continue. I'd never talked about this with anyone before so I did. "The change is—disorienting more than anything. You're just bombarded with thoughts and scents and noise, and everything is so sharp and bright." I thought about that for a moment, about the low hum that had sounded in my ears and the dull burn as sharp images had flooded my eyes. "It hurts," I said. "It hurts a lot."

He nodded. "I thought so." His expression changed and he gave me a wicked grin that I did not like the look of. He stood, reaching down for my hand.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I asked. He grabbed at my hand anyway and pulled me up.

"Come on," he said. "Afraid to do something you shouldn't?"

"No," I snorted, though it really depended on what he wanted me to do.

He leaned down and breathed into my ear, "You haven't really lived until you've danced under the stars."

This was insane. Even more insane that I was letting him lead me into an open space. Letting him lift my hand and put his arm around my waist, though it just about hit crazy when I rested my head against his chest and closed my eyes and just moved; with him, with the music. After a few moments, I stopped caring. It felt good to feel safe for a while, to feel protected.

With him towering over me, big arms around me; I could let my guard down. Or that's what I told myself at least.

What the_ fuck_ was I thinking?


	17. Choose

**Disclaimer:** Characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

**Authors Note:** I've had a few request about this one so I'm posting a chapter. I don't know when I'll get the next one up. This story is pretty far down on the list at the moment because I'm in two minds about the plot. This story is due a ~massive~ edit/rewrite so this may/may not change completely at a later date. You know the drill. If there's something you think should be left in there, let me know and be as specific as possible. Thanks for all your patience and reviews. I haven't given up on this story. I actually have a feeling that once it's completed it will actually be the best I've written.

It's certainly not up to my usual standards but it's something x

* * *

**Choose**

"So when were you...made?"

Felix shrugged and pondered the question for a while. After a dance that should have been more awkward than it actually was, we'd settled onto the grass and started to talk.

"Italian renaissance. I was a soldier in the army, not that Italy really needed an army at that point. My time was spent drinking beer and cavorting with girls." He turned and gave me a cheeky wink.

"Your turn to answer a question. What exactly happened between you and the wolf man?"

If I even considered the possibility he would ask, I would have dreaded this question. "Long story."

He made a show of shifting into a more comfortable position. "I'm not getting any older." Then he stared at me, making it clear that he wasn't going to let it drop.

So I told him. I told him the long, full story of Leah Clearwater and Sam Uley. And all the way throughout, his expression never flickered from mild interest.

When I finished, he rolled his eyes and said; "Young love is always painful but it always passes."

"You don't get it," I told him, my voice somewhere between angry and desperate.

His expression stayed the same. I couldn't figure out whether he couldn't understand or just didn't want to try.

"It wasn't some childhood romance. We loved each other, really loved each other. We were gonna get married, share a home, start a...life together. We were forced apart, it never _ended_ for us."

Still no emotion.

"Everybody tries to make it less than what it was so they can justify it, and him and _her _but I know what it was, I remember, even if he doesn't."

His eyes flickered to the grass and I knew I was beating a dead horse. This guy had probably never even felt real emotion before he was changed. I shook my head, humiliated that I'd poured my heart and soul out to someone who could never understand.

"So, what is your plan, for your kind?"

"Don't know." I sighed. "To get stronger, better."

Felix studied me for a long moment. "You do know that not everyone will come out of this war alive."

It was a statement more than a question. I shook my head stubbornly.

"None of mine will be among the dead. I won't let that happen." As I said the words, I was surprised that I actually believed them.

The look Felix gave me was pitying but I didn't care. He would see.

"I'm going to Romania."

Shit. I'd surprised myself with that one. It was something I'd considered and almost immediately dismissed for being too fucking crazy. The furthest I'd been outside my own home state was Colorado for a powow. And how could I justify flying half way around the country in the middle of a freaking war?

Felix lips curved in a smile and he gave me the slightest nod of approval. Not that I needed it. Leah Clearwater made her own decisions now.

...

Sometimes, you're faced with a decision where you just can't guess the outcome. To tell or not to tell. That was the question. In the end, I decided to bite the bullet and just go for it.

"You can't go."

Of course, it was never going to be_ that_ easy.

"Just listen to me for a minute, Quil."

He had to forcefully bite his lip so he wouldn't talk over me. I cleared my throat and took the floor again.

"We need help."

"Well, that's nice and vague," Embry spat.

A low growl warned him not to push his luck. "By going to Romania, I could find information that may help make us stronger, things that we never knew before."

"We have the tribe legends for that, Leah, and Jasper already tried." Jacob said. He still seemed a little out of it after the imprinting schminting announcement but he was starting to regain his...fire, slowly but surely.

"The legends didn't know about the imprinting get out clause and I think the other pack would be a little more willing to share with someone who wasn't a mortal enemy."

He didn't answer but I could see the anger simmering behind his expression. His accusing eyes screaming _how could you just leave me alone with this; in the middle of a fucking war? _

I needed to make Jacob see. "Look, I'm not just talking about finding information that will help us with this battle, I'm talking about every battle we face after it. We can just keep getting by or none of us are going to last very long."

His expression didn't shift. He just stood there with his arms folded and jaw set.

"It won't be for long." I said softly, to him more than anyone.

"Bullshit!" Embry snapped, the fury in his voice surprising me. I gave him a hard look and he sat back down again but not before grumbling; "This is just an excuse to leave us. You'll probably just end up staying there."

"I won't."

There was no way I was leaving any of them to fight this war alone, not if I could help it. I looked at Seth making sure that he knew I was coming back. He gave me the smallest smile as though he never doubted me. "I'd ask you to be careful but I think Romania has more to worry about than you."

I playfully scuffed him around the head. "Mean."

Jacob cut off the rest of the squabbling. He stood and strolled over to me, arms folded. "Promise, and I won't give the order to make you stay."

I snorted. He would never have given that order anyway. "I swear."

He nodded. "Fine, but there's one thing you seem to be forgetting in this little plan of yours. You can barely afford a new T-Shirt, how the hell are you going to pay for airline tickets to Romania?"

Good question.

...

"I could put you on my back and we could swim."

I gave Felix a _you crazy, fool _look before I answered him. "No!"

I continued stuffing my very limited wardrobe into a bag. I had a few more things to pick up from my place and then only the small obstacle of finding hundreds of bucks to overcome.

Felix reclined on the bed and sighed dramatically. I'd given up telling him to take a hike because that only made him stay longer. "Or we could just take the private jet, if you weren't so proud."

"Okay, one; you're not coming and two; tell your boss to stuff his jet up his ass. I'd rather hitch hike all the way there than be indebted to a leech."

Alice popped her head around the door," Jasper and I would like to repay the favor you did us by buying you a return trip to Romania."

Favor? Oh, she must have meant letting Jasper slack off research duty so they could travel the world in search of monsters. Quid pro quo. That worked for me. "Done."

Felix began to protest but I shut him up with a death stare. "Don't start."

Alice even went as far as to book the flight for me which was good because I probably still would have been staring at the computer ten hours later.

"I got the first one I could find. You have to be at the airport by 6AM tomorrow."

Fuck, that was early, but little miss never sleeps carried on without realising my suffering. "There's a hotel room in your name, don't argue." She held up a hand to cut me off before I started. "We can't have you sleeping on the street, can we?"

That was going way beyond repaying a favor and I wasn't taking extras. The room would stay empty, I'd find my own digs.

...

If I was smart, I'd be getting some sleep right about now but I figured I could sleep on the plane. It would save me from having to pretend to socialise with strangers. Instead, I was spending my 4AM watching old westerns with Jasper and asking him whether they were factually correct or not.

We were in the living room and the kitchen was on the other side of the house but that still didn't stop my nose from twitching as the smell of baking cookies wafted over. "Those better be for me," I said, inhaling deeply.

Jasper chuckled. "You can smell them through my Eau De Vampire? Well honed skill or just well honed appetite?"

I sat up with a sigh and took the remote from his hand. "Both. How's the war going from an experts perspective?"

He produced a bottle of whisky from inside his jacket.

"That bad, huh?"

I wasn't too surprised when he took a swig from the bottle. I'd seen Rosalie mix and down Black Russians just for fun."The in-fighting has started. That's never a good sign." Another swig. "They're trying to hide it from you and the others because they still consider you an enemy but it's happening. It was bound too. The guard are seeing the Volturi's weaknesses for the first time. You, especially, should try and keep out of Aro's way."

I grabbed the bottle from him."Concern for my safety?"

"No. I just don't want you inflaming the situation with your hostility and sarcasm."

We both laughed because I appreciated his bluntness and he appreciated my inability to give a fuck about anything.

The whisky burned a path down to my stomach. Firelight flickered from the hearth. It would be almost peaceful if the circumstances weren't so fucked up. I could make a vow to forget about them for one night but I knew I could never uphold it. There was too much at stake. Jasper seemed to think so too.

"You're worried about Alice."

He looked up sharply at the mention of her name and gave me a crooked smile. "I worry about Alice daily."

"Because she's yours. She's your life and your purpose." Thankfully, my voice didn't catch or anything so melodramatic but I felt it in my gut.

Jasper simply nodded. "You miss it."

"Not as much, anymore." I took a heavy gulp from the bottle this time. "My Pack are my purpose but I don't understand them. I don't understand _us_. And in the middle of a war, that's probably one of the most dangerous disadvantages we can have."

"Jacob should be the one concerning himself with this." Jasper said disapprovingly. He respected Jacob simply because his bloodline determined he should. If any leech knew the importance of hierarchy and command it was the one sitting in front of me, but all he could see was Jacob not fulfilling his duties.

"He's trapped. Because Nessie is his purpose. Not his only one but his most important one. And it's my job to make sure that someone is always putting the Pack first." I drained the bottle and tossed it to one side.

Jasper reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a folded slip of paper. He handed it to me. On it were a list of names and locations. "It's vague at best but it's a start. Though there's no guarantee that they'll still be there. If they're smart, they'll have moved camp."

"I'll find them." I slipped the paper into my bra. "I have a built in tracking system." I settled down again and curled my legs underneath me.

"Any news on the rest of the cavalry yet?"

"The Denali's will arrive by the end of the week. The rest we are keeping updated or still trying to contact them. It's hard to keep track. Our kind are violent by nature, most are fighting wars and battles of their own."

They could of done with better timing. "Damn, where's the whisky when you _really_ need it?"

...

After saying goodbye to everyone, including Renesmee's doll collection, Jacob and I hit the road. He'd demanded that he drive me to the airport and considering he was in charge of telling my mom _after_ I'd already gone, I think he deserved the honor.

We made half the trip into Port Angeles with only the sound of the radio between us. It was awkward as hell and although he wasn't pissed anymore, something still seemed to be bothering him.

"You got everything; tickets, passport; shit, do you even have a passport?"

"Jasper hooked me up with a fake one. The guy he gets them off put a rush on it last night. Look," I held it up for him to see it.

He squinted and leaned closer. "Amelia Wolfe?"

I nodded enthusiastically. It was my own idea to use a fake name. If I did get caught, I wanted to be able to get away without them being able to track me down.

Jacob shook his head. "Subtle."

I doubt he even knew what the word actually meant.

"You're coming back though, right?" He tried to make light of the question but there was no fooling me. I'd know him for way too long.

"Obviously."

His fists clenched the wheel. He made an attempt at a smile but it was totally forced. " I mean, you've got your new name, new country...you might decide to run away and join a new pack."

"Leave my brother, my pack brothers to get slaughtered while I take a vacation, you mean?"

Jacob sighed and one wrong response from him and I knew I'd be leaving on a bad note. "Sometimes, I wonder if any of us could blame you if you did."

"Well, maybe you're right but either way I'm coming back...so don't go hiring a new Beta."

He grinned at me and for a split second I could see the old Jacob. Pre-imprinting, pre-Bella, pre-all this wolf shit. It was only a shame it couldn't last.

He shifted in his seat and moved his arm around my shoulder. The comfort of his warmth made me feel like a little girl, nestling into her father's embrace. I'd know Jacob too long for him to ever take on the paternal role that his position implied but on an instinctive level, I could recognise him as my protector, something secure and safe.

"Never, you'd probably eat 'em alive and I'd don't think the guys would ever forgive me if you weren't there to keep them in line."

Probably not true but I loved him for saying that, I really did.

He stayed with me until I boarded. We took the time to discuss what we really wanted to get out of my trip.

"Find out what they know about imprinting, whether they did anything special to break it."

That shocked me, it really did. "I thought you'd given up on that idea."

Jacob grimaced and shook his head. "No, I'm just not getting very far with it."

I nodded and hugged him goodbye as my flight was called. "You'll do it, just keep trying."

Story of my life but hopefully, that nasty little chapter was on it's way to ending.

"Remember to tell my mom but only after the plane has taken off. You know how she gets, I wouldn't put it past her to to make a mad dash down here to try and stop the flight."

Jacob chuckled but he couldn't deny that my mom was an overprotective nutcase. Then he winced. "Uh, I think I'm just gonna call her rather than tell her face to face."

"Good idea." I grabbed my bag from the back of the Rabbit. "I'll see you when I get back."

"Have fun. Don't kill any of the other passengers. I heard flying can be pretty rough."

I shrugged off Jacob's concerns. Neither of us had ever flown before. It was never much of a concern for families with very little money and no where to go. So our experiences with airlines were hearing those stories of obese people squishing you into the window and brats kicking the back of your seat for twenty four hours. "Those stories are probably just made up. Urban air travel legends. It's gonna be fun."

As for how the flight actually went; don't even fucking _ask. _

_..._


End file.
